The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-29 00:00:00

RA YHARKET THEATRZ

Mrs. Charles Mathews
had her benefit at this house*
on Saturday evening. T king the season of the year_
into consideration, the attendance of visitors
more than encouraging ; the pit was crowded. 11e
.
dramas on the occasion were " The Contested Ele?
tion" and " Masks and Faces." The excellent
ing of the beneficiare as Mrs. Honeybun ; of MIL
Eliza Weekes, her step-daughter; of Mr.mr.
Mathews, as Dodgson, the attorney ; of
Compton, as Honey bun, the retired wholesale groce
and of Mr. Buckstone, Peckover, president of theo,
Blue Lambs, kept the house in continual bursts !
sustained. In " Masks and Faces"
laughter. The subordinate parts were equally vies
Mathews made a very successful first sceneappeanf
here, in the character of Peg Woffington. The
.s
in poor Triplet's miserable abode, where she tiqh°em
in the midst of the starving family, and or pathos:
food, money, and wine, was distinguished for pa.
surpassed it maybe in feeling of another descriptiousL`
by the merriment which followed, after the gene an
burgundy had cheered the hearts of the partY'. alet
Peg, with real joyance, joins in a jig with Trii4r.
Mrs. Chariee
to the playing of his pitiful fiddle. This was
Benjamin Webster's first appearance on his old i_soad
honoured boards for several years past, and he rA
no occasion to regret mingling for a night anionf
his old friends. He was received with that hell
welcome which no one but a long deserving all e
acknowledged favourite of the public can ever ha%
to obtain. Mr. Webster, experienced as he it! ,e
1.,t
these ovations, was visibly affected, and through
supported the well-drawn character like a trio
artist. The comedy was finely sustained by CulMr• ITr •
Farren, Mr. Chippendale, Mr. Villiers, Mr.
ford, Mr. Clark, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Braid. &c. Mrs'
E. Fitzwilliam, Miss E. Weekes, Mrs. Poyote.l.'
Miss Hamilton, and Miss Coleman, among the ladle!
A woru
did their best to give eclat to the evening.
of praise is eminently due to Mr. Buckstone, the
lessee, for the attention he pays not only to the
mice en scene, but to the careful drilling of his eV
cellent corps.

DISCOVERY OF A NEW ISLAND.

Capt. Eldridge of the American brig Amazon re-
ports the discovery of an island in the Pacific Ocean
several hundreds of miles from any land laid down
on the charts. In a letter dated at sea, January
16, 1859, he says :—" It is in lat. 0.45 N. and long.
176.35 W. ; very low and dangerous, and is, I ex-
pect, the last resting place of the crew of some of
the ships which have been missed in years gone by.
I ran along the lee side within pistol shot of the
beach, but it was too rough to land, and after con-
vincing myself that there were no living people
upon the island, squared away again, On the
highest part of the island is a house, apparently built
from pieces of a wreck, with a flag-staff at one Oar,
from which still dangled the halyard block•
the house were several little hummucks, each with
a tall, upright stone upon it, evidently the gravr_
of the poor fellows who have escaped from the
wreck of their vessel, and died on this dreary I°4
where, perhaps, they had spent months in vowew):
looking for a passing sail to relieve them from th
dreary prison."