The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-21 00:00:00

JOINT STOCK BANKS.

Union of London t........ 10 ••• ••• - ••••••••••••.•• 1214

DEATH OF THE COMMON ►SERGEANT OF THE
CITY OF Loriporr.—Yesterday morning John Mirehouso,
Esq., the Common Sergeant of the City of London, de-
parted this lite. The learned gentleman was taken ill a
few days since at the Old Bailey session; from which
indisposition he never recovered. He was chosen as
Common Sergeant to the City in the year 1833, so that
he has held the important office about seventeen years.
The appointment of his successor is vested in the Court
of Common Council.

SETTLEMENT LAW.—The Government have just
required (in accordance with a resolution of the
House of Commons) a return of the number of paupers
removed during the last five years, distinguishing those
who were Irish and Scotch. This is another stepping-
stone ton total abolition of settlement law.

Mr. Joseph Ifambro, a Jew, head of an extensive
banking-house of London, who latoly died, lett by his
will 100,000 rix dollars (570,000 f.) to the city of
Copenhagen, his native place, for the establishment of
charitable institutions, but subject to the condition that
his son, Mr. Charles Hambro, at present chief of the
bank, should enjoy the interest of tli capital during his
life. Mr. Charles Hambro, a short time ago, proposed
o the municipality of Copenhagen to give up the lift;
interest prov7d,A that it would Undertake to build two
b,ths and washhouses for the poor, as in England. The
municipality has just accepted the generous offer.

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.
FRENCH PLAYS.
The pleasing, sparkling, humorous opera Le
Postilion de Lonjumeau—the chef d'oeuvre of that
most lively and agreeable of composers, Adolphe
Adam, of whom it may with truth be said that he is
often excellent, always pleasing, and never dull, VMS
produced here last night, and was throughout received ,
with marked approbation by one of the most fashion-
able and crowded audiences of the season. The music
of the Postilion is well known in this country ;
where is the music-stand on which some of its favo-
rite airs do not find a place ? Where is the drawing-
room or the concert-room in which the music of the
Postillon has not been heard ? The opera itself has also
been adapted at more than one theatre, and the original
was represented in London some few years since by
the Brussels company at Drury-lane. Chapelou,
the Postilion of Lonjumeau, possesses a superb
tenor voice. Ile is beard singing on his wedding-
day, by a Marquis attached to the Court of Louis
the Fifteenth, and is at once hurried away from
his wife to Paris, and transformed into an opera
singer. Alter the lapse of ten years we find him,
under the name of St. Phar, the leading tenor of
the King's troop, giving himself all the airs which
leading tenors will give themselves, and making
desperate love toga certain Madame de La-
tour, forgetful of poor Madeleine, who he
had married ten years before, and left at Lonjumeau
He, however, hears that Madeleine is alive and in
Paris, and in a scene in the dark he fancies himself in
the presence of both Madeleine and Madame de Latour,
for he hears distinctly the voices of each relating the
history of his perfidy. To add to his dismay, he be •
lieves that he has been guilty of bigamy in marrying
Madame de Latour, and he hears a comfortable as-
surance given to him, that the punishment for such an
offence is hanging. All, however, is cleared up by the
discovery that Madeleine and Madame de Latour are
the same person. M. Chollet was the original Chapelou,
and it is not too much to say that he made the opera.
He was also the Chapelou of last evening and was as
fresh, as gay, as brilliant, and as bustling as ever he
was. His "Oh ! oh! qu'il etait beau," was admira-
bly given, and his caricature of a regular built grand
opera song, " Assis au pied d'un hetre," was an ex-
quisite bit of musical drollery, and elicited an unani•
mouse encore. His acting throughout was full of
vivacity, spirit, and point. Mademoiselle Guichard,
who was the Madeleine, when thei opera was per-
formed at Drury-lane by the Brussels company,
again appeared in that character, and never has the
rustic soubrette been more coquettishly or more na-
turally represented ; her acting as the fine lady,
too, was excellent, and it is seldom that such
versatility has been seen as was exhibited by
Mademoiselle Guichard in the scene in the dark, in
which she alternately personates the two wives. M.
Buguet, as Alcindor, the coryph‘e, was exceedingly
quaint and amusing. The choruses were admirable,
and the opera was most carefully put upon the
stage. The success was complete, and at the con-
clusion Chollet and Mademoiselle Guichard were
loudly called for, and rapturously applauded.