The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-24 00:00:00

THE ROYAL NAVY.

PORTSMOUTH.-01.1r Port-Admiral, Sir Charles
Rowley, is again suffering from his old complaint,
which prevented him going out to Spithead in the St.
Vincent, 120, now at that anchorage, where she will
be joined shortly by the Caledonia, 120, Captain Milne,
from Plymouth, and the Camperdown, 110, Captain Mar-
tin, from Sheerness. It is not yet known what flag officer
will have the command of the sumrnercruising squadron,
which is to consist of ten pendants, and rendezvous at
Spithead.
The Admiralty steam-yacht Black Eagle, Mr. Cooke
master, is to come here from the river, to be in readiness
for her Majesty, who, it is confidently stated, will pro-
ceed to Osborne House, and visit Norris Castle, during
the present week.
Rear-Admiral Sir G. Seymour is daily expected from
London, to hoist his flag on board the Collingwood, 80,
Captain Eden, as Commander-in-Chief in the Pacific,
vice Rear-Admiral Thomas, whose period of service is
about to expire.

The Sydenham steamer, Lieut. Mapleton, has pro-
ceeded to Cronstadt, to receive on board our Minister,
Lord Stuart de Rothesay, whom she will land at his seat
at Christchurch.

Letters from the Illustrious, 72, from Bermuda, report
that Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Adam was about to pro-
ceed in that ship to Halifax, and thence to Quebec, the
St. Lawrence being now open.
The command on the Irish station, vice Rear-Ad-
miral Bowles, now one of the Lords of the Admiralty,
has been given to Sir Hugh Pigott. The Gallant Officer
will hoist his flag in the Volage' 26, now at Cork, Cap-
tain Sir W. Dickson, after which it will be transferred
to the Malabar, 72, on the return of Captain Sir G.
Sartorius from Lisbon.
The steamers Comet, Lieut. Emery, and Dee, Mr.
Driver, master, are gone on to Woolwich, but will
shortly return to the coast.. of Ireland. The steam-
vessel Fearless, with Commander Sherringham, and
the Assistant-Surveyors' are busily engaged in South-
ampton Water, laying down buoys, and otherwise im-
proving the navigation.
The surveying vessels, Bonetta, Commander Brock,
and Arrow, Lieut. Otter, are nearly ready for sea, and
will be at Spithead during the ensuing week. The for-
mer (roes to the -Levant, and the latter to the coast of
Scotland.
The Indus, 80, Captain Sir James Stirling, has not
yet made her appearance from Lisbon and Malta. She
is hourly looked for.
The Wasp, 16, Albatross, 16, and Ringdove, 16, are
to be detached from the West Indies to the coast of
Africa; and the steamers Gorgon, Ardent, and Growler,
from the Brazils to the same quarter, for the more
effectual abolition of the slave-trade.—Brighten Gazette.

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Lablache, who took his benefit last evening, had,
as might have been expected,- a house crowded to suffo-
cation in every part. Last year, he produced 'for his
benefit the Don Pasquale, introducing the glorious
Don, for the first time, to the English public. This.
year he revived Cimarosa's delightful opera Il Matri-
rnonio Segreto, the opera in which he first made his
bow before an English audience. This opera is re-
markable in musical annals for the unique compli-
ment paid to it by a Royal audience. It is the only
opera that has ever been encored. Songs, duetts,
overtures, have been encored many a time and oft;
but Cimarosa's opera of Il Matrimonio Segreto was,/
on its first representation at, Vienna, encored as a
whole. The Emperor Joseph, before whom it was
represented, was so delighted with this, the master-
piece of Cimarosa, that he commanded all engaged in
its performance to remain in the theatre ; and,
having had a supper served up to them upon the
stage, commanded them to repeat the whole of the opera
before they left the theatre, his Majesty and his suite
remaining to the conclusion of the second performance.
This was the opera chosen by Lablache in which to
make his first appearance in this country, and he last
night sustained his old character of Geronimo with
all his pristine power. There was the same glorious,
rich, unctuous spirit of fun—the same marvellous
power of voice—the same humorous roll of the
voice, the eye, and the body—the same indescribably
comic expression of countenance, in his attempts to
hide his deafness, that on his first appearance on these
boards fixed him at once and for ever as the greatest—
in every sense of the word—the greatest buffo actor in
the world. The opera was strongly cast : Persiani
was Carolina; Grisi, Elizabetta ; Favanti, Fidalma ;
Mario, Paolino ; and F. Lablache, the Count.
The acting of Persiani and Grisi in the quarrel scene,
in the first act, was admirable. Nothing could ex-
ceed the pert humour with which Persiani gave the
passage " Le faccio un 'inchino Contessa Garbata "
—(our English readers will recollect the air as "My
Lady the Countess")—while Grisi's reply—" Son
duma e Contessa," was the very perfection of shrewish
ill-nature. The gem of the opera, however, was the
air in the second act—" Pria the spunti in ciel
l'aurora," which was deliciously given by
Mario. The music was exactly suited to
his voice, and he threw into it all that ex-
pressive and exquisite tenderness which he knows
so well how to infuse into airs of this character.
We never hear this (with the exception perhaps of
Il Barbiere, the best opera buffs ever composed)
without reflecting on the marvellous little progress
which the moderns have made in comedy. The Ma-
trimonio Segreto, and the School for Scandal, were
produced about the same time, and they still remain
unapproached (save in the instance of Il Barbiere)
and to all appearance unapproachable. At the con
elusion, all six of the performers were called for,
and they certainly well deserved the compliment.
Between the acts of the opera, a new divertissement by
Mademoiselle Cerito was produced, entitled
La Vivandiere. Cerito herself sustaining the
principal character. In her costume as La
Vivandiere, she looked exceedingly fascinating,
and her as de la Vivandiere was a beautiful piece
of pantomimic display, in the course of which she em-
bodied the feelings which may be supposed to ac-
tuate La Vivandiere du Regiment (a character im-
mortalised by the glorious lyrics of Beranger) dur-
ing the course of a battle. Nothing could exceed her
graphic and picturesque pantomime in this pas. The
inspiriting march to battle—the conflict—the grief at
the fall of old companions in arms, and the final tri-
umph—all were delineated with a truthfulness and an
energy which deservedly elicited the most rapturous
plaudits. Then followed a pas de quatre by Mesde-
moiselles Cerito, Ferdinand, and Louise, and M. St.
Leon. Cerito in this pas exhibited all that marvel-
lous power of execution for which she is so celebrated.
We had that arrowy rush from the back of the
stage to the foot-lamps ; those marvellous twinklingi
steps; and those picturesque and graceful poses which
no one can give like Cerito. St. Leon, too, in this
pas de quatre surpassed all his former tours de force.
He is decidedly the first male dancer in the world.
A pas de deux, by Mademoiselle Planquet and M.
Montassu, was very gracefully given, and was much
applauded; and then came the Redowa, the original
Polka dance of Bohemia, by M. St. Leon and Mdlle.
Cerito. This Redowa will, no doubt, become a most
popular dance, there is infinitely more of character in
it than in the Polka, as we have hitherto
seen it danced, and there was a spirit of arch
coquetry about Cerito's manner that told admirably,
and elicited rapturous applause. The scenery was
beautiful, and the characteristic dances by the corps
de ballet exceedingly picturesque. The music is ap-
propriate, and the ballet is admirably put upon the
stage. M. Deshaye's ballet of Alma concluded the
evening's amusement. The greater portion of the
audience remained to the conclusion of the ballet.