The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-22 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Amidst the applause and laughter which Don Pasquale
elicited last night from first to last, there was a contributor
to the enjoyments of the performance who was utter for-
gotten. We allude to the author of the libretto—and still
to him infinite praise is duo. Immediately after Metas-
tasio, in whose works passages sublime as well as- beauti-
ful are so abundant—libretto ceased to possess even com-
mon sense ; their anachronisms and absurdities proving
in their authors the most magnificent contempt of
all branches of ordinary education, and affording the
few amateurs familiar with the Italian language the ,great-
est amusement. The ignorance of that beautiful tongue,
and the absence of all via comics in Italian singers some years
since, rendered the libretto of little importance ; of late, how-
ever, this language has become a common branch of educa-
tion—we are, therefore, greatly indebted to that admirable
critic and playwright, Romani, who has created a complete
revolution in.this style of composition, and who writes out
his plots and dialogues as fast, and full as ably, as the com-
posers do the music—as he did in an incredibly short space of
time with regard to Donizetti's Elisire d'Amore. The author
of Don Pasquale is -a worthy rival of his : he is a young
student, and who has here made his debtit in literature. No
doubt that his spirited dialogues have contributed to
inspire the composer, whilst they enable Lablache and Grisi
to display the resources of their comic vein, and keep the
delighted audience in a continual state of risible excitement.
The more pathetic portions of the libretto, introduced for the
sake of contrast, are not less admirably treated, and- the
Poetry, though unpretending, flows with sweetness and grace.
To those who are not thoroughly conversant with Italian,
the following free translation of the first song of the Opera,
" Bella siccome un angelo," may not be uninteresting:—
" Bella siccome un angelo," Sr.c.
" Fair is she as angel bright,
On a pilgrimage to earth ;
Round her path a stream of light
Proves her heavenly birth !
Fresh as freshest lily bell, •
Opening in its em'rald cell ,
To the morning dew.
Then such soul-subduing eyes,
Sunny laughter lurking lies,
Wordless language, breathless sighs,
All is in their hue.
Hair that rivals ebon jet—
When
the raven's wing is wet
With a rainbow shower,
'Tis less bright. And for her smile,
They who gaze on it awhile,
Fed—but too well—its power."
Last night .Don Pasquale placed the audience in the best
disposition possible. Unfortunately in the ballet, after a
display of more than her wonted power and grace, Cerito
was taken suddenly ill ; the curtain fell at once., Coulon
came forward to announce the circumstance to the public—
the peculiarity of his costume, combined with the sudden-
ness of his manner of expressing his desespoir, raised geniral
laughter. The ballet was then brought at once to a clede—
turning the habitual transient chat of the crush-reign into
prolonged conversazione, but still of a most lively and ftgreeible
character. We arc happy to be able to state that Cerito
rapidly recovered from the swoon produced by her exertions.
It is with the utmost alacrity that we seize this opportu-
nity of reminding the public of the benefit of that unrivalled
artist who has the greatest claims on their patronage.
Lablache, although he neither has now, nor ever has had,
his equal, and although he has passed the meridian of life,
condescends to the smallest parts in his zeal for the manage-
ment, and in his anxious desire to please the public. An
example that finds but few imitators, either from want of
talent, zeal, or good policy. It is needless for us to remind
our readers what interest our highly intellectual favourite
infuses into every opera in which he thus appears, and what
importance he confers, and what fresh triumphs he elicits
from parts secondary performers have rejected as beneath
them. Lablache has made the happy choice for his benefit of
that beautiful opera Il Matrimonto Segreto, and we doubt not
the public will be eager to prove to him that they remember it
was in the part of Geronimo he made his debtit in our capi-
tal, and to prove that from that day to this his repUtation
and popularity have constantly increased.
The Opera was well attended last night. Amongst the
company were the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ; the
Honourable William Ashley and party occupied the Queen
Dowager's box; the Duke and Duchess of Leinster, Duke
and Duchess of Montrose ; the Marquises of Ailesbury, Sa-
lisbury, Douro, Abercorn, Huntly ; the Marchionesses of
Ailesbury, Abercorn, Douro, Westmeath the Earls of Pem-
broke, Liverpool, Bruce, Shelburne, Wilton, Glengall, Ken-
mare, Belfast, and Maldon ; Countesses of Shelburne, Ken-
mare, Glengall ; Lords Ernest Bruce, Foley, Gardner, Sandys,
M'Donald, Charles Wellesley, Templetoun ; Count Noailles ;
Ladies Taylour, Ernest Bruce, Deere, Petre, Foulis, Mahon,
E. Balfour, Augusta Somerset, Shaw Stewart, Ingilbv ; Sirs
F. Trench, H. Meux, Denham Norreys, T. Hare, ILL Bold
Iloghton ; Hon. Colonel Upton, Mr. and Mrs. Assheton
Smith, Mr. Wombwell, Colonel Knox, Colonel Wigram, and
Major Baring.

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE-
CHATHAM, MAY 20.—Colonel Sir Thomas Willahire,
K.C.8., Commandant of this Garrison, issued this day a gar-
rison order, commanding Colonel Thomas Weare, K.H., to
hold the under-mentioned detachments of the provisional
battalion in readiness to embark at Gravesend, on .board the
ships hereafter named, for the Presidency of Madras:—The
4th King's Own, 102 privates, with Lieutenant Bolton and
Ensign Collins; 18 privates, with Lieutenant Frost, -of, the
57th ; and Assistant- Surgeon Webster of the 21st Fusiliers,
making a total of 4 officers and 120 men, who are ordered to
embark on board the ship Claudine, on Saturday, the 25th
instant. The following embark the beginning of next
month :-8 privates of the 63d, and 109 privates of the 94th,
under the command of Captain Magee, of the 94th; with
Ensign Le Grand, of the 63d RegiMent, and Second-Lieute-
nant Ballinghall, of the 21st Fusiliers; Lieutenant Ahmuty
and,Lieutenant Grant, both of the 57th. These troops pro-
ceed to Gravesend on the sth of June, and then embark on
board the ship Wellesley ; and on the Bth of June the'ship
Ellenborough, of 1,100 tons, Captain M. C. Close, will receive
on board at Gravesend 89 privates of the 21st Fusiliers, and 7
privates of the 63d, with Lieutenant Cumming, tf the 4th
King's Own, and Second-Lieutcnant Peddie, of the 21st Fusi•
Hers. This ship will also take detachments from the Cavalry
depOt at Maidstone. The following detachments arrived at
the invalid depot at this garrison on Saturday, the 18th
instant from Gibraltar, Corfu, and the island of Zante :-1
sergeant, 7 privates of the Ist Royals, 2 corporals ; 6 pri-
vates of the 7th Fusiliers ; 4 sergeants, 12 privates, of the
19th ; 3 privates of the 3811 ; 3 privates of the 45th ; 1 ser-
geant, 1 corporal, and 14 privates, of the 42d ; 18 privates
of the 48th ; 7 privates of the 79th ; 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, 25
privates of the 97th ; 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, 15 privates, of
the 88th ; Royal Artillery, including :a corporal of the Sap-
pers, 15 ; and 3 sergeants, 2 corporals, and 13 privates of
the lst battalion of the Rifle Brigade, with Sergeant-Major
Jethro Florey, who has been in the service upwards of 30
years. This non-commissioned officer enlisted in the 95th on
the 16th of December, 1813, at Bow, near Stratford, and
during those years which he has spent in foreign climates
never had a day's sickness, and has the appearance now of a
man only 35 years of age. The Royal Artillery, Ist batta-
lion of Rifles, and the 97th, embarked at Corfu on the 18th
of February last, on board the ship Nautilus, 400 tons, Cap-
tain M‘Leane ; and at Zante the .ship put in and took on
board the 19th ; and at Malta she took in the 88th and 42d ;
and arrived at Gibraltar on the 2d of April, when she took on
board the remainder of the detachments. Dr. Holmes, Staff-
Surgeon who left Chatham in December last with troops for
Crofu, returned with this ship to Gibraltar, where he now
remains; and Dr. Burrs, Surgeon of the Ist Royals, took
charge of the troops to England. Major J. L. Smith, of the
Royal Artillery, and Lieutenant Kerr, of the 19th, came to
this garrison with the detachments, also twenty-three women
and forty-two children. During the ship's passage of three
months and four days, which was most severe, beating the
whole time against severe gales of wind, the troops lost
by death two soldiers belonging to the 88th, and corporal
Patrick Shaughnessy, of the 42d, with one child, and the
ship's cook; also a civilian named Samuel Hempstead, 65
years of age, who has for the last 40 years of his life filled
at Gibraltar the office of public hangman, and for which duty
he received the daily pay of full sergeant. This executioner
was recommended to Government for superannuation allow-
ance, and was on his passage to be pensioned off. On the
ship's arrival off Portsmouth he was taken ill, and on Mon-
day morning, the 13th instant, he died, when the ship was off
Beechy-head, and his body was consigned to the deep. The
old man has left behind him a son, who is a wool-merchant
at Gibraltar. Upwards of thirty sick men were conveyed to
the Hospital at Fort Pitt in vans from Gravesend, at which
place the ship arrived on Friday, the 17th inst.

CONSEQUENCES OF FRIGHTENING CHILDREN.--
A schoolmistress, for some trifling offence, most foolishly
put a child into a dark cellar for an hour. The child
was greatly terrified, and cried bitterly. Upon return-
ing to her parents in the evening she burst into tears
and begged that she might not be put into the cellar.
The parents thought this extremely odd, and assured
her that there was no danger of their being guilty of
so great an act of cruelty • but it was difficult to pacify
her, and when put to bed she passed a restless night. On
the following day she bad fever, during which she fre-
quently exclaimed, " Do not put me in the cellar !"
On the fourth day she was taken to Sir Astley
Cooper, in a high state of fever, with delirium, fre-
quently muttering, " Pray don't put me in the cellar."
When Sir Astley inquired the reason he found that the
parents had learnt the punishment to which she had
been subjected. He ordered what was likely to relieve her ;
but she died in a week after this unfeeling conduct.
Another case from the same authority may here be
cited. It is the case of a child, ten years of age, who
wanted to write her exercise, and to scrape her slate
pencil went into the school in the dark to fetch her
knife, when one of her schoolfellows burst from behind
to
anyomunhscethelh deplorableeas
rat
became ef ttrhe r
reifit terrified,
loudest
deaf
sedtahaaenafts and
ohtaht
afhnael epdrkdpfilneeoaoegnnfoa.enrddteht:soecsai.hnfnr frighten
AdgxA.s hsthlt
beiesoeonoyeynohmsntfieahutfrlietevi
fifteen
fueloisnseel hodlroe
iatwnhsiw
rntiehafgoeetdmsam
years of age was admitted
an inmate of Dundee Lunatic Asylum, having become
imbecile from fright. When twelve years of age be
was apprenticed to a light business ; and some trifling
article being one day missing, he was, along with others,
locked up in a dark cellar. The children were much
alarmed ; and all were let out, with the exception of this
poor boy, who was detained until past midnight. He
became from this time nervous and melancholy, and
sank into a state of insensibility, from which he will
never recover. The missing' article was found on the
following morning, exculpating the boy from the guilt
with which he had been cbarged. Parents should be
extremely cautious not to allow their children to be
beaten or terrified at all by unfeeling teachers. ;It has
been found out that there is not the slightest occasion
for coercion even in the asylums for the insane, and why
should people suffer their children to be cowed and
beaten merely to gratify the passion of some little-
minded domine, who knows no more about human'nature
than he does about the valleys and mountains •in the
moon ?—Glasgow ConstitutionaL
DEATH OF THE LADY ELIZABETH I,ov/rim.
We regret to announce the death of the LadyswllgEitiznahteottt
Lowther, relict of the late Sir John Lewth er , or
Bart.' lose demise we recorded on Wednesday last. Her
Ladyiatip had been for some time indisposed at Swillington,
but since the death of the venerable Baronet she sunk rapidly,
and was on Saturday so ill that orders were sent to delay the
preparations for the funeral of Sir John, which had been
fixed for Monday last, at Swillington Church, near Leeds,
but as her Ladyship rallied during the day, the orders were
countermanded on Saturday evening. Her Ladyship, how-
ever, grew worse in the course of the night, and expired
late iikthe evening of Sunday last. Orders were, of course,
forthwith given to postpone the intended funeral from Men-
day to a future day, when the remains of both will be in-
terred in the same vault at the same time. Her Ladyship
was in the seventy-fourth year of her age. She was the
third daughter of John the ninth Earl of Westmoreland,
and sister of the late Countess of Lonsdale, who was the
eldest daughter of the same Eaml of Westmoreland by his
first wife. The deceased Lady }3izabeth was
.marxitcl to Sir
John LowtUl: in 1790.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
111.03 t TEE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
STANDARD.—The Factory Bill was last night read
a second-time in the House of Lords, and gave occasion
for a debate of considerable length. The arguments ad-
duced for and against the restriction to ten hours were
the same repeated five or six times in the House
of Commons, and it would be less excusable to
weary our readers with reference to them, be-
cause while Lord Wharncliffe and Lord Brougham
were, in the House of Lords, resisting a restraint
to ten hours of the labour of factories upon principles of
political economy, Sir Robert Peel was, in the House of
Commons, Vigorously and successfully cutting away the
foundations of that pretended science. In the House of
Commons, Sir Robert Peel moved his resolutions of the
6th inst., upon the subject of the renewal of the Bank
charter, in a speech distinguished, even among the speeches
of the Right Honourable Baronet, by perspicuity,
fulness of information, and masterly arrangement. After
a conversation, scarcely to be called a debate, in which
several Members addressed the House, the resolutions were
unanimously adopted. How could it be otherwise in the
case of propositions so good in themselves—introduced
with such consummate ability ? Every measure of such
importance as the re-modelling of the Bank charter—
which is, in effect, fixing the currency of the empire—
naturally engages the attention of a vast number of
powerful and well-informed minds, and when these minds
concur, it is plain that we have in their agreement as
near an approach to a perfectly wise judgment as we
can hope from human nature. But every such perfectly
wise judgment has two aspects—one immediately
practical, the other exemplary; the one relating to what
we may call the cause in court, the other establishing
sound principles and affording precedents. Of these
two aspect., the exemplary aspect—the assent to
principles—is the more important, because it extends
beyond the particular subject and the moment.
We are far from underrating the immense value to the
commerce, and, through its commerce, to the permarent
happiness of the country, of the practical effect of Sir
R. Peel's proposed arrangement. We believe that no man
can estimate, and that it is perfectly impossible to over-
rate the beneficial effect of imposing, as this arrangement
pill impose, a sober and steady pace upon the commercial
advances of this industrious, bold, and enterprising
nation ; lint this benefit, great as it is, falls incalculably
short of the value of the mortal blow struck by the
arrangement at the false science—" political economy"—
that has so long and so perniciously domineered in our
legislation, hardening the hearts of the rich, and torturing
and corrupting the poor. What are the fundamental
doctrines of the political economists ? First, that all
contracts shall be free to all ; secondly, that every
interference of the Legislature with trade must be in-
lurious ; and upon the authority of these dogmas
it is that we are told, in defiance of truth, justice,
and humanity, that infants and women, and help-
less men, are to be compelled to work any num-
ber of hours in the day that may suit an em-
ployer's profit or cupidity, upon the fiction, forsooth,
that they are free parties to a contract. Infant
children and women free contracting parties—men
" who may do what they please, only they must " or
starve, free contracting parties ! ! How do the banking
resolutions respect these rigid maxims, never to inter-
fere with contracts, never to interfere with trade? Why
they stride over them as if such maxims were never
seen or heard of. In the matter of contracts, the
highest and most important that pecuniary contracts
- can be, in that department of trade which concerns
the largest amount of property, and which is most
universally diffused, the Legislature takes the whole
duty of arrangement and control into its own hands.
And most wisely does the Legislature take into its own
hands the management and control of these important
contracts and of this extensive trade ; and with equal
:wisdom would the Legislature take into its hands the
management of all contracts, and of all trade, if in
others it could as 'well protect itself from the indulgence
of its own caprice, as we trust it will in this vital matter.
GLOBE.—Sir Robert Peel addressed himself, in the
latter division of his speech last night, to supply the
deficient links which had been remarked in his pre-
, vieus exposition. In this supplementary essay he was
zealously aided by Mr. C. Wood, Sir W. Clay, and
Mr. F. Baring. It is evident, therefore, that there
. is: no desire, on the part of the Opposition, to dis-
cuss this as- a party question. In fact, most of the
intelligent supporters of the plan are apparently to'
be found -on those benches. The Minister's hack
supporters hold their tongues to conceal their
disguiseigno-
rance; or their tender leanings towards tam-
. in .
pering, an opposite sense, with -the Queen's coin.
• It -has always been by the Tory organs, in times past,
, that have been breathed the most ardent aspirations for
'unlimited showers of paper, as restoratives of pros-
perity. The only explicit expounders, however, of the
doctrines still dear to those real and rooted Tories, who
,retain their objection to all payments, except either in
. rags, or in moneys screwed from the public by monopoly,
are the men of Birmingham. It is the religion of that place
'to believe in the power of promises to pay to solve every
difficulty. It appears to us, on the other hand, that Sir
R. Peel's infirmity on this subject is his persuasion that
premises to pay become then dangerous, and then only,
et would seem, when they are promises to pay on de-
niand—that the monster evil of our credit and banking
system is the freedom to issue convertible notes. Now
this is what we said Sir Robert had by no means proved
in his first exposition ; and what we now say his sup-
plementary speech has gone little farther in proving
than his previous one. Neither can we find anything
but echoes of the same irrelevancies in the speeches in
his support. It was well observed by Mr. C. Buller,
that
' " The most complete confusion appeared to exist, in the
ideas of the majority of those who had spoken, between
banking and currency. The object of the Right Hon.
Baronet was to obviate the evils arising from the bad
system of credit ; but his machinery was directed to an
action on the circulating medium. In order to sup-.
port his interference with the issues of country
banks the Right Honourable Baronet had quoted cases
of failures in those banks—forgetting, however, to
mention how many of them had been banks of issue.
And it appeared the Right Hon. Baronet's argument tended
much more against the system of banking than the system o 0
issues. The great mischief of our banking arose, not from
the issue of notes by country banks, but from errors in the
banking system of another nature. Why, of eighty-one
private banks that had failed in a particular period, only
twenty-nine had been banks of issue ; the other ffty-two had
nothing to do with issues.—(Hear, hear.) The failure of one
private bank in London had caused more mischief, too, than
the failure of many country banks of issue."
. Take, for instance, one of the cases quoted last night
by Sir Robert Peel to show the insecurity of private
banks under the present system :
"No. 6. The banker succeeded to a considerable property •,
mortgaged his estate, overdrew his private accounts with
the bank, issued prthnissory notes to the amount of 14,000/.,
bearing interest to depositors of small sums among the
humbler classes of society ; 5,5901. of promissory notes pay -
'' able to Nearer on demand."
, It appears in this instance, that considerably more
titian double the amount of paper issued in the form
- 86 Particularly obnoxious to Sir R. Peel was issued by
the parties in question in another form, which his mea-
sure wilt net touch... It appears in this, as in every
other instance which can be named, that the part of the
paper at :present issued, which- is most under check
already, is precisely that about which Sir Robert's
plan most exclusively busies itself ; and that part of it
which is only limited in amount by the banker's credit,
and his disposition to use (or abuse) it, is the
part which his project leaves free. Sir Robert may
reply that he cannot meddle with credit, but only
with currency. But, we contend, with Mr. Tooke,
that the one is as much (or as little) cur-
rency as the other. The difference is not between credit
and currency, but between wholesale and retail. Sir
Robert Peel leaves untouched the wholesale operations
of credit currency. And yet it is evident that the mass
of transactions in banking—and unchecked transactions
—are these wholesale ones. But Sir Robert pulls up the
retail credit-currency—which is strongly controlled al-
' ready by immediate convertibility, and by that very
banking competition he deprecates. We should like to
know, in addition to the points questioned by Mr.
Charles-Buller, what amount of loss the public has sus-
tained by the non-payment of joint-stock bank notes.
We believe it would be found quite insignificant.

•
MARKET INTELLIGENCE.
(From the London New Price Current of ,May 21.)
Scads.--This afternoon the principal feature in the West
India Sugar market was a public sale of 125 }Aids new Bar-
Woes, being the first parcel brought forward this season : the
• quality was superior to that of last year, the chief part con-
' sisting of bright yellow, and containing only a small quantity
of foots. There was a good attendance of the trade, and the
• whole 501(1 with spirit rather above the general •valuations,
fine bright yellow fetching 66s to 66s 6d, good 6.3 s to 65s 6t1,.
'middling 62s to 62s 6d,. and low Gls per cwt. In the private
market there was rather more business transacted, and 200
. _ilihds were disposed of at previous rates.
' REFIXED.—To-day there was rather more business trans-
acted in Refined Sugar, but at lower rates; brown Lumps
selling at 763 6d. to 775, and stand•ird Lumps 77s Gd to 78s
per cwt. In bonded. Crushed Sugar there is agood deal doing
at 25s 9tl to 2Gs. Loaves are firm in priCe, and in good'
' demand. •
MAuarrius..—rices - have further declined 6d to Is per
csvt: the demand, however, has been good, and 6,100 bags
at public salewere all disposed of—:fine yellow at 63s to 645,
good Gls 6il 'to 623 Gd,-middling 59s to Gls, law 57s Gd to
58s 6d, good to fine brown 53s to 575, middling 52s to 52a• Gd,
. _ good V.) fine grey 61s to-63s Gd, and low to good middling
• 57s to` 60s 6d per cwt. •
EA.ST INDT.A.—This afternoon Bengal Sugar was not much
in request; 2,341 bags 56 chests at public sale were sold, but
6d under former rates; fine white went at 645, good 62s 6d to
639 6d,nlid Gls 6d to 625, middling yellow 575 .to 58s, damp
and washed white als 6d to 63s per cwt. •
• ForiEl4ll.—This afternoon 1,249 boxes of yellow Havannah
Sugar were offered aCpublic sale, and all taken in at stiff
rates;• fine„at 22s to 23s1t6d,:good-21s to 21s .6d' n
middli go
to 208 6d ; there were buyers of the latter 6d per cwt under
the. taking-
in 19_ boxes of washed. sold at 19s per cwt:
rtrs__;West India rather lower rates have
•-• 11.1orAssii;s .—.
been accepted St. Ritt's low quality at 22s to 235, St. Via-
cent's 245, Demerara good 255, and Dominica good to fine 27s
to 28s per cwt. Bengal Syrap 15s to 17s per cwt . This
afternoon Nat 26s to 26S 6d for good, n
Do-
minica .at 26stig6dtlato 21sen, butln
Grenada sold at 21s per -cwt.
for low:
Cocoa.—A reduction on former rates Of
t
•
has been accepted for British Plantation. Trinidad
lsto
g2s
sorde rredcwal,
148 s 611 to 495, good middling 469 6d to 478, middling 443 to
46sy.' good grey 43s to 455; and middling
Bat 30s
42s to 42s 6(1 per
• :,.swt. •• Foreign has met with more attention; la ...,
• • cwt. This' afternoon Trinidad Cocoa takenr in at 4-Is to
▪ ~.• ',445'6(1- per cwt for middling quality.
fliGo:—Jamaica Arrowroot taken in at 8d per lb. Pearl*
• 'Sago taken in above the value ; middling small brown at 133,
and good large white Pearl 18s 6d per cwt. Sago Flour at
• • 193•t0-20sper cwt. • •
COFFEE.--There has been more inclination Shown to pur-.
chase- West India Coffee, and former rates 'have been sus-
tained.'` Mocha has sustained .the fernier .s.l'alne. This
• afternoon' Ceylon real good ordinary went ite 52s Gd to 53e,
country damaged, first clam 51s to 52s 6d, sea dam-aged, first
• class 51s to 525, second ditto 50s to 51s, third ditto 47s to 4gs,
and triage 328: - African at the Bd, per lb duty only partly
• sold, ragged colonry worm eaten at 365, pale 30,3,-clainagd in
• the celUltry"2B3-to 32s 6d; bold yellow pale Was-taken m at