The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-25 00:00:00

VICTORIA THEATRE.

•
An excellent melodrathe; teaching a most important
moral lesson, was produced at this theatre last evening,•
with most'triuMphant Success. It.is entitled the Tempe-
rance Pledge, and we doubt not but that the members of
the Temperance Societies alone will fill the •theatre
every evening for the next month. The drama repre-
sents. the career of- two - individuals, one, _Richard
Farrell (Mr. Hield), at the commencement of the
piece, a miserable,. squalid drunkard
.; and the
other,.
.George O'Meara (Mr., ,Tanies Vining), a
young
.;man of fortune; • who is fond of his 'bottle.
Farrell has reduced his family >to starvation ; his son
Henry (Miss 'Arden), a young boy, in order to. procure
food for his mother and her family, commits a petty
theft, and is apprehended, ; his father; horror-struck -at
'the'crime to which lie has driven his child by his drunk-
enness, take: the temperance Pledge, keeps it; and by his
iiidustry acquires an independence, restores histboy to'
society, and redeems himself and his , family from the
misery and degradation into .Which lie- had plunged
them. . O'Meara, Qll the . contrary, becomes a
confirmed :sot—neglects his . wife, who . elopes with.
one of his boon companions" and after en-
during every variety of wretchedness, ends his-miser-
able career: by murdering his wife . and her paramour,
and then poisoning himself, There. is a comic under-
plot; supported •by , Gardner as a publican I,' Paul, as a
drunken
_tailor ; and Seaman,-as an Irish servant, which,
by:its fun and humour, . affords a seasonable relief to the
more tragic portiOns.of the drama. James Vining's deli-
neation of the character. of O'Meara was, very fine, and
the • other • actors : exerted' thernselves to' the utmost.
The-scenery-is exCellentrand.thaAnannex_in.whivh the
drama: has been put Upon the stage reflects the highest
credit on the management,. At the fall of the curtain,Miss
_Vincent spoke an,appropriate. and well-written epilogue,
which,-we -believe,_is frora_ the pen of the_manager.
The lively operetta of Our. Lady of the Willow followed;
'after 'which Hainet Bey; a Creole posture-master, exhi-
bited some of the most astonishing specimens of flexi
bility of:limb we have ever seen. , It is no exaggeration
to say that:he can " tie hiniSelf up in a knot" The
houie was very well attended, . • •
. .

THE LORD LIEUTENANCY OF IRELAND.--It is eon.
sidered probable that the Duke of Buccleuch will be the suc-
cessor of the Earl de Grey. The high personal character of
his Grace, his amiable qualities, and the munificence with
which- he devotes so.large a portion of his princely fortune to
the noblest purposes, have long made the Duke one of the
most popular members of the British aristocracy.---Post.
-,The-destruction of the antique harrOws in Green-
wich-park has been for the present suspended. About
twenty.of these national memorials of the valour of the-
ancient Britons in the time of Alfred the Great were
swept away a few days since in digging fin. the proposed
reservoir. Since then, however, the work has been sus-
pended by authority, and it is now believed by those who .
appear to be the best informed upon the subject, that in
' deference to the strongly expressed wishes of the inha-
bitants, a site for the reservoir will be adopted beyond
the limits of the beautiful park.
ATROCIOUS MLYRDER.I--It 15 our painful duty to
record one of the most brutal murders that has taken
place for some time. ,We learn that on the evening of
Sunday, the 16th instant, an armed party entered. the
house of Patrick Hughes, Of Newtown, in the county. of
Roscommon, and deliberately murdered him, by stabbing
him in several parts of the body, and breaking his skull..
The poor man had -only retired to rest a few minutes
previously, and was aroused by the soreams of his wife,
who was seriously, abused, and had got up to save her
'fiani the party. No reason is given for this dreadful
murder ; Hughes was a pensioner, well-conducted, and
in coMfortable circumstances. Hughes lived within a
mile of Strokestown, on the side of the mail-coach road.
Through the exertions of Captain Blakehy, who imme;.
diately attended, two of the party have. been arrested and
indentified,Dublin Evening Mail.