The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-18 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

The complimentary benefit to Mr. Anderson took
place last evening, and the house Was, as we expected
it would be, a bumper.
Previously to the play, Mr. Vandenhoff delivered
the following address, written by Joseph Lunn, Esq. :
Ladies and gentlemen—kind patrons—friends!
Before the curtain for our play ascends,
Some transient moments of yuur time I claim,
To speak of this night's chance—its cause and aim.
Olt wo behold, on Britain's peaceful coast,
A noble ship—of Commerce late the boast,
Moored in some tranquil port! Her sails all furled
Have ceased to wart her o'er the vultory world:
Her hull, and spars, and cordage idly sleep,
As if they ne'er had braved the mighty deep.
The anxious crew—who oft her deck have trod,
Obedient to some bold commander's nod,
Now daily loitering on the harbour's banks,
Gaze on their long-loved vessel's manless planks,
Eager to sail ogaiu the world around,
When some courageous spirit can be found
To freight the I ark—assume the chief command—
And gire empluyinunt to the hardy band.
Thus Isy the good ship "Drury !" stout and tall—
Ample tor stowage—tt lunch for calm or squall!
Day after day, by them who erst had maun'd
The stately argosy, her form was scanned:
Yet no one dared the fabric to equip,—
And risk her freightage—for a season's trip!
At length a brother came, of venturous mind,
Once more to spread her canvas to the wind!
No upstart dabbler in our noble art,
But one well skilled to take the leading parr.
With weather sometimes fair and sometimes rude,
Thus far his course he firmly has pursued:
While we, to him who set the ship afloat,
This night our steadfast services devote;
Trusting to you the union to reveal,
Of your kind succour with our friendly zeal.
Yet not alone your generous aid we ask
To grace this night our tributary task—
That by your smiles our enterprise you'll crown,
And leave our captain then to swim or drown;
But that his future efforts you'll befriend,
And bring his voyage to a prosperous end.
The play was the Lady of Lyons, and at, its con-
clusion, Mr. Anderson having been loudly called for,
stepped forward and addressed the audience. He
thanked them for their attendance on that occasion,
and, after alluding to the brilliant success of the
Pantomime, he briefly touched upon the ill-success
which had of late attended his exertions, and spoke
in warm terms of the loyalty of his actors. He added
that the necessity of closing the theatre would be for-
tunately avoided by the kindness of friends by whom
he should be enabled to make further efforts—there
was a good time coming, and he fully trusted to their
aid in carrying out those objects for which he entered
upon the duties of management. The announcement
that the theatre would continue open for the present
was received with loud applause, and we hope that
those who applauded, and all who rejoice at seeing
the announcement, will not content themselves with
merely applauding and rejoicing, but will, by their
attendance and patronage, enable Mr. Anderson "to
carry out those objects for which he entered on the
duties of management. The grand Easter piece of
the Devil's Ring concluded the evening's entertain-
ment, and we believe that it is principally owing to
the growing attraction of this most gorgeous spectacle,
and the urgent recommendations which Mr. Ander-
son has received from all quarters for'its continuance,
that he has been induced to make such arrangements
as will meet the general wish, and supersede for the
present the closing of the theatre.

EXHIBITION
AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION.

A brilliant exhibition of paintings is now opened
to public inspection in the Portland Gallery, 316,
Regent-street, immediately opposite the Royal
Polytechnic Institution. The society under whose
superintendence the galleries are hung with these
productions of our living artists is the same which
has hitherto been known as the "Free Exhibition
of Modern Art," opening its annual collection to
public view in the Hyde Park Gallery. For certain
sufficient and cogent reasons, Haentionedby the Coun-
cil in an "Address to the Public" prefixed to
the catalogue, reasons unnecessary to particu-
larize in this place, the name of the association has
been changed to that of the " National Institution,"
and the locality of its exhibition transferred to the
Portland Gallery. Whether or not an additional
effort has been made by the members and associates
of the institution to exert their talents additionally on
the occasion of these alterations we know not, but
unquestionably, to our thinking, the exhibition for the
present spring season evinces, in many respects,
a considerable and very visible improvement.
Out of the three hundred and seventy-three works
of art hung on the walls of the dif-
ferent apartments devoted to the exhibition, we
should find no difficulty in making a comparatively
large and valuable selection of paintings, in many
respects, eminently meritorious. Our time and space,
just now, however, being somewhat limited, we are
only enabled to specify one or two of the most re-
markable of the numerous productions which arrested
our attention on Saturday afternoon, when we had
the gratification of attending the "private view" of
the exhibition.

Among the classical pictures in the gallery, No. 38,
" Medea," by J. T. lloulton, cannot fail to be ob-
served with much interest, from the graceful vigour
with which the mythic narrative has been rendered.
No. 51. A Sketch from Shelley's glorious " Queen
Mab," by J. Harris—
" Long did she gaze, and silently,
Upon the slumbering maid,"
though ingenious in conception, is principally no-
ticeable from what appears to us the deformity of that
mischievous immortal. No. 55, " Righ Shamus gu
brath mo Mhac—Here's his health in water,"
by R. 11,. M'lan, is an impressive representation
of the last moments of a Highland gentleman of 1715
in the prison of Carlisle. No. 76, " The Highland
Coronaeh," by the same artist, is replete with pathos,
earnest, and passionate. No. 106, " Marie Antoi-
nette and her Children," by M. Claxton, pourtrays
with singular-effect the escape of those royal unfor-
tunates from the apartments of the French Queen at
Versailles through a secret door, while the mob are
besieging the palace. The interest of such a picture
is of course materially enhanced by the recollection
that the young Princess, now remarkable from her
age and her misfortunes, is still to this day a sur-
vivor of three terrible revolutions. No. 140, " Win-
ter Scene," by A. 0. Deacon, forms a cleverly de-
picted snow-clad landscape. No. 143, A Scene
from Shakspere's " Twelfth Night," by W. Deverell,
stands forth conspicuously in the collection
as one of the most highly imaginative
productions in the whole exhibition. The
listening countenance of the Duke, the observant
look of Cesario, and the chaunting mouth of the
Clown being as inimitably drawn as the garden view
in the background is odd and fantastic to the very
last degree. No. 147, " The Sun dispelling a Mist,
with Smugglers landing their Cargo," by H. P.
Parker, deserves some mention, if only in reference
to the absurd felicity with which the luminary of the day
is transformed in the semblance of a burst orange. No.
159, " The Excommuniation of Robert King of
France and his Queen Bertha," by L. W. Desanges,
is altogether a bold and, in many respects, a highly
successful and splendid composition; the features of
the excommunicated sovereigns being drawn with
surprising energy of expression, and the figure of
Abbon, the ecclesiastical dignity, robed in purple and
crowned with a round of jewels, who is pronouncing
the terrible anethema of the Pontiff, having a noble
grandeur of aspect and attitude. Abbon, by the way
in profile, is something like an effeminate and blunt-
nosed Napoleon. No. 244, " Captivity and Liberty,"
by Mrs. M'lan, though unquestionably clever, is
marred by the circumstance that the swallow intro-
duced into the dungeon looks like an uncertain waver
between a bat and a cobweb. No. 251, A Jealous
Man, disguised as a Priest, hears the Confession of
his Wife,' by D. W. Deane, represents in a most
humorous manner a ludicrous incident mentioned in
the immortal " Decameron" of Boccaccio. No. 280,
" Christ appearing to Two of his Disciples on the way
to Emmaus," by R. S. Lander, forms a brilliant
specimen of the school in which Mr. Herbert, the
Royal Academician, has, proved so eminently suc-
cessful. Other productions, both in the water-colour
room and in the apartments already traversed, will
deservedly arrest the observation of future visitors.

. • ••
REVIVAL OF ANTIENT COSTUME.-A Vlslt to some
of the leading West•end houses induces the conviction that
a greater self-dependence is manifest in the production of
articles of fashion and taste. Whether this has arisen since
the revolution from the dearth of newness among the French
—the source from which all neighbouring nations expect to
be supplied—or from an improvement-in our native ability,
is a , matter for more mature inquiry. It is, however, the
opinion of many, that our English milliners have as equal an
esnst.- tr ee
whicht,
are
led a
to research
believe
aptitude as the French, but that the latter from our de-
pendence upon them have always been upon the alert to
seize, add to, and reproduce whatever former periods had
deemed recherche. From the conviction that such is the case,
will
intohiel l
numerous Messrsproduce .
.j
a ayii
resultst ioefn tgitrel gratifying
fying to public judgment; and to
which, when these revivals appear, we may again refer.
Observer.

CIVILIZITTON.—A consolatory progression, which
ought to make us prowl of the present, and to inspire uslvith
confidence in the future.—Eliza Cook's Journal.

DRINKING AT MEALS.--It is injurious to drink
much at meals. Those who take a large quantity of liquids
during dinner generally eat more than those who take less.
The sensation of thirst depends upon the quantity of aqueous
fluid circulating in the blood. It has been found by physiolo-
gisti that the most severe thirst of animals is appeased by
injecting watery fluids into the blood. A moderate quantity
of liquid should be taken at dinner; too large a portion acts
injuriously by diluting he gastric fluid. Persons whose diet
is more animal than vegetable require more liquid during
their meals. Drinking before a meal is pernicious, whilst by
drinking during the meal the digestive process is promoted.
Those who eat fast require more drink than do others, for; as
Dr. Philip says, the food is swallowed without a due ad-
mixture of saliva, and forms a dry mao in the stemach.'—
Winslow's geofith or ,body and,4Zind.