The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-29 00:00:00

PRINCESS'S T' REATRE.

The lessee of this theatre st Odom lets the popular
French operas escape him, and in this spirit of activity
he now brings out an Anglici. le d version of the Val
d' Andorre, which was played for the first time last
night. It has been carefully lit epared for the Engli,h
stage, and the greater part of the score has been re-
tamed ; while the general dirt tion has been vested
in the hands of Mr. E lward I ...Kier, whose ability in
discharging duties of the kind ;has been well and often
tested. In some respects it vru/uld be impossible to
accomplish a snore agreeable d ?.livery of the music.
The musician-like feeling or Miss Louisa Pyne,
and the beauty both of her voice and exe-
cutior, qualify her, in certai n essential particulars,
to fill the interesting part of no: ede Mai. Her exe-
cution of the music was as n eat and as finished as
possible; in short the charact )t was represented with
an artlessness that was emine atly pleasing, and there
was no flattery in the applai to —no impropriety in
the encore which awaited her romance in the second
act. Mdlle. Nau, as the virieige heiress Georgette,
was a manifest improvement upon Mdlle. Cotti, at
the other house. Mrs. Weiss 76 s a tolerable Theresa,
and published her recitative ;to cusations against the
unfortunate Rose with great di yaesatic energy. The
part played by Chollet, the gay and nonchalant
Lejoyeux, fell into the hands of Mr. W.
Harrison, who copied his riiodel as closely as
his powers of imitation wo' ad allow ; but as the
subtleties of such personati `ens are not of easy
transcription when the natura'...genius does not lie in
the same direction, Mr. Harrison did not rub out
former impressions, and the sp set Ater still thought the
French artist the only veritable Lejoyeux. Mr. Har-
rison, nevertheless, did all that lay in his power to
give the character its individui ili ty, and to those who
were not in a position to make: ?contrasts, he was not
unamusing. He sang with fkeedom, and carefully
pointed the musical dialogue : be. also threw consi-
derable spirit into the military :song in the third act,
winning thereby a loud encore.. The tenor strains of
the hunter Stephan were rendered by Mr. Allen
as delicately and as tits tefully as possible.
The sweetness of his organ, the smoothness of his ex-
ecution, and the beauty of his style are facts never to
be concealed; and hence be out weighs his contempo-
rary, M. Lac. The homely to nderness of Jacques
Sincere was portrayed by Mr. Weiss in bis wonted
manner, and his singing w as; steady and explicit.
The choruses were executed with more vigour than
correctness, but the endeavour to do well will pro-
bably be more fruitful of goo.l results when the dis-
cipline has extended over a we ek or two's public prac-
tice The principal singers \were called for when
the curtain fell, and the opera n lay be considered suc-
cessful.

MR. WILLY'S CLASSICAL CONCERTS.
The fifth of Mr. Willy's clztsgeal chamber concerts
was given last evening at St. Martin's Hall, Long-
acre. The principal instrument lists were Mr. Stern-
dale Bennett, Signor Piatti (whom we were glad to
see back again here), and Messrs. Zerbini and Wes-
lake. The programme comprised, besides some vocal
music by Miss Bassano and Mr. Benson, some instru-
mental pieces of the first or ler. In the adagio of
Beethoven's quartett in F, No. 1, Signor Piatti was
particularly distinguished ; and, =thing could exceed
the delight of the audience at the adagio and
eagro vivace of Menclelssohnes grand duo in D
major, Op. 58, as given by Starndale Bennett and
Piatti. In Mozart's quartette in D No. 7, the
andante was encored. The concert concluded with
Beethoven's grand trio in E flat, No. 2, Op. 70, ex-
quisitely played by Sterndale Bennett, Willy, and
Piatti. The concert, as a whole, proved one of the
most interesting of the series.

AN APPEAL TO THE BENEVOLENT.--A grand mis-
cellat eons concert, under distinguished public and pri-
vate patronage, will be given at the Concert-room of the
Princess's Theatre, on Tuesday, the 26th February
next, on bal!alf of Mrs. George and her children, whose
cruel desertion by the composer, F. N. Crouch, is re-
port-d in the papers of the 19th September last, at which
the following distinguished and popular artists have
most promptly volunteered their services—namely, the
Misses Williams, Bassano, Claris.% Enouy, Lucombe,
Me:sent, O'Connor, Pyne, Poole, Roe, and Ransford;
Messrs. Binge, F. Bodds, Genge, Lyon, Phillips, Rana-
ford, F. Smith, Spoilt-, &c. Inotrumentalists—Miss
Kate Loder, Metsrs. Distin, Nicholson, Cooper, Patey,
&c. Messrs. W. S. Rockatrow and Jahn Roo will offi-
ciate as conductors.—Musical World.

SOUTHAMPTON, TUESDAY MORNING.—Tho Havre
cotton market was yesterday exceedingly dull, with
prices somewhat less firm than on Saturday. The sales
amounted to about 400 tales. The ship Parana, from
Buenos Ayres, and the lndecis from Carmen, arrive !
yesterday at the port of Havre.
THE RIVER. PLATE —LivvitrooL, SATURDAY
Privet') advices from the River Plate to the end of No-
vember, via Rio, state confidently that a treaty had been
ratified between Mr. Southern, the British Plenipoten-
tiary, and Roses. The documents had been dispatched
to England by the bteatc-ship Hydra, and way there-
fore be expected daily.
KING'S CoLLEGF, LONDON. The names of the
following students of the collep end school appear in
, the list of wr:,nglers at the late Cambridge examina-
tion:--Watson, second wtfogler ; Irving, Harrison,
Greenwood, Northcot, licynod, and De Lisle.

THE LATE LORD JEFFREY.

The death of one who, after a life of mental ac

vity, had reached his 77th year, is not an event in
the ordinary course of things remarkable. But when
a public person, even at that somewhat advanced age,
suddenly departs from among us, the natural feeling
of regret is not unmixed with surprise, and the in-
stinctive feeling that a void has been created in old
associations. This is especially the case with Lord
Jeffrey. Not so many years have elapsed since he
was known as the editor of the Edinburgh Review,
and some passages in his life arising out of his con-
nexion with that publication have become so linked
with our ideas of two of the most distinguished poets
the age has produced, that his death cannot be passed
over without notice, and a record of the few features
of his career.
The late Francis Jeffrey, by courtesy Lord Jef-
frey, as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Scotland,
was born on the 23d of October, 1773. At the High
School of Edinburgh, his native city, he received
his first education, and in 1787 he became a student
at the University of Glasgow. The published Me-
moirs of Lord Brougham, ani the anecdotal
recollections of literary contemporaries, have made
the public familiar with the existence in Edinburgh
of one, amongst others, of those debating societies so
common in this country, where young men of an
ardent intellectual temper are wont to exercise their
young and vigorous faculties in discussing great
questions, to which they more often bring energy and
mental enterprise than knowledge, but which at least
licit a spirit of inquiry and a desire to master facts,
principles, and logic. The " Speculative Society" of
Edinburgh shares, with similar societies at Oxford
and Cambridge, the honour of having included among
its earliest ram:deers some who have subsequently at-
taiued great political and literary distinction. Among
the most distinguished of these were Lord Brougham
and the late Lord Jeffrey. Young Jeffrey con-
tinued at the Glasgow University four years, when
he went to Oxford, and was entered of Queen's
College there. This was in 1791. The legal
profession was his allotted path in life ; and
having duly qualified, he was called to the
Scottish bar in the year 1794. Success in that pre-
fession is proverbially of slow attainment, and Mr.
Jeffrey had acquired a contemporary reputation in
society as a wit and a literary man long before he
had attained eminence as an advocate. When, at
last, his opportunities fur display arrived, he es-
tablished his reputation as an advocate of the first
rank. He is described by an intelligent biographer
as excelling " in acuteness, promptness, and clear-
ness in the art of stating, illustrating, and arranging
—in extent of legal knowledge—in sparkling wit,
keen satire, and stroug and flowing eloquence." Tne
same writer, quoting a contemporary critic, the au-
thor of " Sketches of the Sottish Bar," says, " Ever
quick, but never boisterous nor pushing, Jeffrey
wound his way, like an eel, from one bar to the
other. If what he had to do was merely a matter of
form, it was dispatched in as few words as possible;
generally wound up, when circumstances per-
mitted, with some biting jest. If a cause was
to be formally argued, his bundle of papers was
unloosed, his glass applied to his eye, and his dis-
course began, without a moment's pause. He
plunged at once into the mare magnum of the ques-
tion, confident that his train of argument would ar-
range itself in lucikorder, almost without any exertion
on his part. He possessed a most retentive memory,
and couldjproceed from one subject to another at a
moment's warning." The same writer quotes the fol-
lowing anecdote of Lord Jeffrey, in his professional
character:—" As Mr. Jeffrey sat down one day, at
the close of a long and argumentative speech, an at-
torney's clerk puled him by the gown, and whis-
pered in his ear, that a case in which he was retained
had just been called on in the inner house. Good
God,' said Jeffrey, have heard nothing of the
matter for weeks ; and that trial has driven it en-
tirely out of my head; what is it ?' The
lad, in no small trepedition, began to recount
some of the leading facts, Fut no sooner had he
mentioned the first, than Jeffrey exclaimed, I
know it,' and .ran over, with the most incon-
ceivable rapidity, all the details, and every leading
case that bore upon them ; and the speech he de-
livered upon the occasion was the most powerful that
ever fell from him." " His oratory," the same
writer goes on to say, "is not commanding • and it is
like the frog striving itself to the size Of the ox
when he attempts to be impressive; but once, indeed,
says the writer before quoted, we remember an apos-
trophe startling, nay, commanding, from its native
dignity and moral courage. A baronet having
brought an action, in which, to gain his point, he had
shown a disregard of all moral or honourable re
straint, Mr. Jeffrey made the following observations
oa his conduct My lords, there is no person who
entertains a higher respect for the English aristc-
cracy than I do, or who would be more loth to say
anything which could hurt the feelings or injure the
reputation of any one member of that illustrious
body ; but after all that we have this day
heard, I feel myself warranted in saying—
[here he turned round, faced the plaintiff,
who was immediately behind him, and fixing on
him a cold firm look, proceeded in a low determined
voice] that Sir -- has clearly shown himself to be
a notorious liar and a common swindler."

In 1802 was started the Edinburgh Review, a pub-
lication which, if not actually suggested by Lord
Brougham and the late Lord Jeffrey, was at least es-
st aubs
tl iasihneedd mb3a2tnillye
rthrough
ut n sons. Et rdui
tine
de n
dt aul
ri jn,g, atnh de
first year by the Reverend Sydney Smith, the control
of the Review was from the year 1803 to 1828 en-
trusted to the late Lord Jeffrey, and some (,f the most
brilliant volumes of the publication came out under
his auspices, and were enriched by his pen. The re-
cent republication (,f the articles contributed by him,
and the ample notices they have received from the
most important political and literary journals, renders
unnecessary any criticism here. It was during the
period of this editorship that Jeffrey's name became
known to the public by his bloodless duel with
Thomas Moore, the poet, and the caustic satire in-
flicted on him by Lord 13yron in his " English Bards
and Scotch Reviewers." It was a kind of negative
honour to the late Lord Jeffrey that a review ofi the;
" Hours of Idleness," attributed to his pen, should
have stung Byron to the composition of that satire,
and ultimately have stimulated the development of his
powers as a poet.
It was in his literary character that the late Lord
Jeffrey was of importance. Until the republication
of his essays by Messrs. Longman, that reputation,
except with those who guessed at, or were in the
secret of, the authorship of the articles in the .Edin-
burgh, rested mainly on report, and in private life.
The fact of his editorship of so important and Mu-
ential a publication was in itself an evidence of no
ordinary powers. The public have since been enabled
to judge for themselves, and their decision has fully
confirmed a character for critical acumen, which till
then had rested so much on hearsay evidence.
In 1821 Mr. Jeffrey had been chosen Lord Rector
of Glasgow University, and in 1828 he became Dean
of the Faculty of
Advocates of Scotland, on which
occasion, we believe, he resigned his editorship of
the Edinburgh Review. In 1830, on the accession
of the Whigs to power, and of Lord Brougham to
thee et
eChancellorship,
Scotland,n
Mr. Jeffrey
took his place in the Imperial
Parliament. became Lord Advo-
cate

As the lawyers of England, Scotland, and Ireland
usually work their way to the bench by first working
their way into the House of Commons, Lord Jeffrey,
towards the close of the Duke of Wellington's Ad-
ministration, took measures for
first Parliament of King 'William getting into Parlia-
ment at the earliest convenient opportunity. To the
IV., which met in
September, 1830, he was returned for the district of
burghs that includes Forfar, Perth, Dundee, Cupar,
and St. Andrew ; but a petition having been pre-
sented, the Committee unseated him on the 25th of
March in the following year. The influence of this
disappointment was, however, of short duration,
for almost immediately he took his seat for Mahon.
Lord Fitzwilliam
was an earnest Reformer; Sir
James Scarlett, afterwards Lord Abinger, repre-
sented the Fitzwilliam borough o
i f Melton in a por-
tion of the Parliament elected n 1830, and as Sir
James had resolved not to support Lord Grey's mea-
sure of reform he felt bound in honour to resign into
the hands of its patron the representation of the place
for which he sat; hence the vacancy in 1831 by
which Mr. Jeffrey was enabled to become the
nominee of Lord Fitzwilliam. This seat he .con-
tinued to hold till the latter end of 1832, when he
was returned for Edinburgh, and remained the re-
presentative of that city for more than two years,
his colleague being Mr. Abercromby, now Lord
Commons Mr. Jeffrey had
form a period
D unferinline.
a
seatT h e
infour
theyears
u during which his reputation was rather diminished
than augmented ; at all events his fame with the pub-
lic became very little extended at this stage of his
career. True,• he mingled
much in London society,
and rarely entered any circle in which intellectual
o s House during
o C which
ons
conversation was esteemed,—where wit and lively
repartee, brilliant disquisition, or, subtle philosophy
were appreciated without exciting unqualified ad-
miration. But in the House of Commons he was
too old to enter upon a noviciate, nor was he able to
overcome in Parliament the adverse influence of great
fame acquired out of doors. It has grown into a pro-
verb that the House will have no favourites but of its
own rearing, and to that M. r. Jeffrey certainly formed
no exception. Ms mincing tones and metaphysical
reasoning w: re anything but acceptable to an as-
sembly so popularly constituted as the Commons of
England ; and though he was listened to with a cer-
tain degree of patience, he disappointed the expecta-
tion of those who conceived that the editor of the
Edinburgh Review must necessarily wield in Perna-
meat an authority analogous to that of Burke, or
other great literary men who have had influence in the
councils of this country. in Po foxingion of Lc d