The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-14 00:00:00

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.

FRENCH PLAYS.
One of the earliest, and perhaps because one of
the earliest one of the freshest, of Auber's 013e:105,.!
Le Macon, was produced at this theatre last' even'l3
01
for the benefit of Mademoiselle Charton.
never before represented in its complete form in e
country, the plot of Le illivon is familiar to the
English playgoer ; it is neither more nor less than thh",
of the Mason of Buda, once so popular at the A.delPlu!
when under the management of Mathews and Yates;r
the principal male characters were sustained by
l
Sinclair and Mr. T. P. Cooke. The scene
the original opera is laid in the Faubolirif
St. Antoine at Paris, and the opera commences 'AI
the jollifications attendant on the celebration
mason's wedding, the said mason having been reward
by a young noble for having saved his life,
his
having been thus enabled to mar the sister of
neighbour, a locksmith. Suddenly the mason and to°
locksmith are both seized and conveyed to the
residence of the Turkish Ambassador, wherlBl
they are compelled to rivit to the "r 8 e
of a room and to immure a handom
young Frenchman, whom the mason recognizes
as his benefactor, and a lovely . Greek Wale
slave, who has been flirting with the
French noble. Having completed their tss
they are brought back blind-folded to the
place from whence they had been taken, and he
reply to the reproaches of their respective wives t
mason relates the night's adventure. By comparing
notes with each other, the assembled neighbours chat
elude that it was to the residence of the Turk thneat
theyth e
firnuds h
it
deserted,o
the mason and his brother had been conveyed,
ffai.m eadndwth commence
in time to save the immured captives, who, instesi
being chained to a wall are chained to each other
f(r life. The music is of a light sparkling h c-aracter,
and the chorus, while the mason and locksmith are !t
work, in which the time is marked by clinking of the!!
hammers, produces a very pleasing effect. Aladeln°lci
selle Charton, as Irma, the Greek slave, sung ef.Dit
acted charmingly; Lac, as the mason, did ul,'
justice to the music, and exhibited considers
ickoxes and snovels ,
humour as an actor. M. Killy Leroy, as the Pull
nobleman, sung the music allotted to him with gre°,
taste and judgment, and M. Chateaufort vv,„, in
i°
Pulling it down..
amusingly quaint as the locksmith, who is the coons
character of the opera : he is a henpecked husband, ,
rank coward, and a great arguer. Chateaufort revelleut
in the part. There is not on any stage at preset),
any artist who delineates abject fear so ludicrousli
doee Chateaufort. Keeley is very great in this 1i.;„7,
but even he must yield the palm to Chateaufort. 14°
actor can approach him in a 4, quake." The (versa
was preceded by the Perruguiere de Meudon, 811,,
followed by L'Esclave du Canioens. Her Mlie
and Prince Albert honoured the performances withr
omnoraehwenoerfithtyniogfhtthethahnonAoluadreniimopisleiende bevh
their presence, and we know of no artiste who, Ist
theatre was crowded by the elite of rank and fashion'
aartrOnY.al

_
LONDON WEDNESDAY CONCERTS'
Tne fourth concert of the second series took Ple-
at Exeter-hall last evening. The performances con-
sisted of an orchestral symphony from the Jupiter ,
Mozart, a selection from John Barnett's exquisite
opera the Mountain Sylph, and a miscellaneous se*
er'
lection. In the course of the evening Ernst p
formed a magnificent solo on the violin, and Mr'
Sims Reeves sang "'The Death of Nelson" bertr,tf r
than even he himself has ever sung it before•
other vocalists were Miss Lucombe, the Misses Wil;
Hams, and Miss R. Isaacs ; Herr Formo, Dlr. Lout
and Mr. H. Drayton. The hall was crowed to excer•

SOUTH. AMERICA.
LIVERPOOL, MARCH 13.—The Columbus,
Greene, which sailed from Pernambucloumbuson;heCAPht,s°
February, has arrived off Queenstowr, and landed her
dispatches, which came to hand this morning. s.
brings advices from Bahia to the 22d, and Rio Janeiro
to the 15th of January, both inclusive.
There is not any political intelligence of importance
by this arrival. The province of Pernambuco was t°-
lvrably quiet.
Our previous Recounts by the Swordfish informed us
that the yellow fever had broken cut there. The ad'
vices now to hand inform us that the epidemic had been
raging with fearful effect. Many sailors had fallen vic-
tims to its malignity, and some vessels, in consequence,
bad been disable 3, and others prevented from proceeding
to sea. We also regret to say that the disease bad nand*
its appearance at Bahia, but was not near so terrific so
at Pernambuco.
Our commercial advices by this arrival inform us that
at Pernambuco exchange on London Ras quoted at 28i.
The princip LI shipments which had been made in sugar
were in execution of unlimited orders, which had 100
up prices notwithstanding the rise in the course of ex-
change, and as there were several vessels in port still to
be provided for, prices would, it was expected, be main'
t tined. The prices quoted were whites, first and se-
conds, 255. lid. to 265. 511 J. per cwt. ; common assort-
ments, 225, 60. to 245. 9d. ; low, 19s. 6id. to 20s. 9id•
Muscovadoes super, 16s. 6d. to 16s. 101 d. ; average qua-
litier, 15s. 7d.; ordinary, 15s. 2id. The stock of vk bite
sugar ir. bags was large, but consisting principally of the
lower qualities ; fine whites were scarce, and also Mils'
covadoes, and both in good demand. The price of cotton
was well supported, and the daily supply was taken Off
on arrival at prices varying from mil. 5.500 to mil. 5.600
per arroba. There was no stock in the market. Hides
were in good demand, and scarce at 3? per lb.
Respecting freights, we may observe that several
charters had taken place at rates ranging from 30s. to
255. for the Channel, to unload at a port in the United
Kingdom, s=. extra for the Continent between Havre and
Hamburgh, and 20s. to 30s. for the Mediterranean, all
for sugar in bags, and 5 per cent. primage. No sugar in
ballast was offering.
At Bahia exchange was looking up, quoted at 281
The prices of sugar was thus reported—whites, mil.
2.100, and browns, mil. 1.700 per aroma, or 19e. 7d. to
153, 11d. per cent. on board as freight. The stock was
1,390 cases.

'ln freights there was little doing. A Belgian had
been taken up for the Channel, at 375. Gd. per ton for
sugar.
Accounts from Rio inform us that coffee had ad-
vanced, and mil. 6.400 per arroba was asked for superior
sorts; and mil. 6.000 for good. The stock was stated
to be 30,000 bag. Freights were almost nominal; 15$.
per ton had bean accepted for coffee to Trieste, and at
that low sum no employment was obtainable, and the
vessels in port would almost all leave in ballast.
Exchange on London had advanced to 28d. and
28 id.

The export market of Pernambuco was quiet, and
E ales progressing slowly and prices steady.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.
meeting OXFORD, MARCH 12.
At a m •
Houses,
and Proctors, the d 1 t ' room, March
in e ega es -
11, 1850 : of the Vice-Chancellor, Heads of
Whereas it has been represented that several men i-
hers of the University have lately been concerned in
the practice of horse-racin in port Meadow an
d
e.sewhere, contrary to the express prohibition of the
statutes : All persons are hereby warned that the
penalties enacted by the statute hereunto sub-
joined will be enforced, without mitigation,
against those who shall be found, after this
public notice, offending in that manner. And all
members of the University are desired to observe,
that if they are implicated in any manner in such
proceedings, either by subscribing towards them or
being present as spectators, they render themselves
liable to the same penalties as those who take an active
part in the race.
Extract from the Statute, "De reprimendis sum')."
tibus non Academicis," tit. XV., sect. 15 :
" Statutum e.t,—Quod in posterum nullus Acadernito
umuus nut principalcm aut consorter iu cursu equorum
adhibeat, vel ipse equitando, vel pecuniam collatitiam
fad cam rem tubscribendo, ant alio quocunque modo; neque
cq,?orum cursui . . . adsit, ant ullo modo se immis-
ce.ht; sub vane emotionis ad Academia pro prima vice
per trys menses; pro secuuda, per sex menses; pro tertia
r‘ro, in perpetuum."
"F. C. 13141MIPTR; Vice Ch000110r."

LITE 1: A TURE.
ANTON/NA ; or the Fall of Bonze.

TVi/hie

3 Vols

By I

The author of the " Life of William Collins," has
here adventured upon a more a'inhitious uudertaking
--the son anl biographer of the painter, has, in de-
picting the scenes attendant on the fall of Rome
evidenced a power of paintiag with the pen
which few contemporary writers have ever
equalled and none have surpassed. Many of
the incidents in " Antonina," terrible, sublime,
and almost impossible though they be, are, by the ma-
gical power of Vie language which describes them,
inves;el with an air of positive and appalling reality.
greater contrast could hardly be imagined to the do-
Mestic novels of the day than this masterly glimpse of
the men and manners of a bygone day—a glimpse,
Moreover, given at a moment when the races of the
Kurth and the South—the effeminate inhahi-
hmts of imperial Rome and the hardy
soldiers cf the dauntless Alaric were arraycd in death-
-I'4l antagonism—when (to quote the opening of the
Second voluaine of '•Antonina") "an army of bar-
barians had indeed penetrated for conquest and for
vengeance to the city of the world ! The achieve-
merit which the invasion of six hundred years hal
hitherto attempted in vain was now accomplished, and
accomplished by the men whose forefathers had once
fled like hunted beasts to their native fastnesses
before the legions of Caesar—the Goths were at the
gates of Rome." Grandly is the scene described
where Alaric stood contemplating the walls of the
great city, " the only invader since Hannibal by
Whom they had been beheld." Contrasted with
the simplicity and severity of manners of the Gothic
eoldiers, the lavish magnificence
.and intemperate
Plea'.ures of the luxurious Romans are detailed with
very skilful effect. Tne gentle, childiike Antonina,
vqaally out of place among her dissolute countrymen
and the savage invaiers, glides through the streets of
Rome and the camps of the Goths, like an inhabitant
Of another and a purer world, her momentous life
serving admirably as a, connecting link between the
various passages revealed in these volumes,
,a 8 illustrative of the fall of Ram. We
"ftve marked several paragraphs for extract
Which want of space compels us to defer. We shall
again take the opportunity of noticing, at greater
ength, this, Mr. Collins's first essay in historical ro-
%aline ; in the meantime, we congratulate him on his
host succeslul achievinent, and commend " An-
"Pina" more especially to the attention of
,11.11 Who can appreciate and enjoy a masterly delinea-
tion of great events and colossal characters—such, for
example, as the fiendish Goisvintha, almost magnifi-
cent in the fierce pertinacity of her horrible thirst for
14 I.a
Vengeance as she stands over the timid, graceful,
g Antonina.

THE CREAM" OF THE POETS.
Fancy a little, yellow, pocket volume, containing
Seven poems, some of the masterpieces in our litera-
printed in excellent type, with admirable corn-
r'eteness, with scrupulous accuracy—and its price
,Ile shilling ! Such is the charming book before us, a
try jewel of cheapness—the cream of the writings
13f Gray, Burns, Crabbe, Kirke Cowper,
f°ldsmith, and Coleridge ! One of each of their
leitous compositions has been selected, and the
thole of those seven poetic stars grouped together
Into a constellation like the Pleiades 1 Of Burns, we
have the " Cotter's Saturday Night ;" of Gray, the
-Megy in a Country Churchyard;" of Crabbe, the
village ;" of Cowper, " Conversation ;" of Kirke
" Ciifton Grove ;" of Goldsmith, the "De-
kserted Village ;" and of Coleridge, the "Ancient
riner." Out of these three, if we were required
tti° make our choice we should unquestionably select
" Elegy," of Gray, the " Deserted Village," of
and the " Ancient Mariner," of Coleridge
" Elegy" as the most perfect, the "Deserted
;"lage," as the most beautiful, and the "Ancient Ma-
hlner" as the most extraordinary : the first a master-
piece of metrical composition, the second one of the
host delightful of our national favourites, the third a
Wild and startling effusion of genius condeived in the
sa
Ine enthralling mood as "Frankenstein," only
llunrned as " Frankenstein" is not adorned, by all the
B'raees of poetic art. After what we have observed it
Ittneedless to commend this exquisite little volume to
e perusal of the multitude.