The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-27 00:00:00

MISS LAURA ADDISON.

The following particulars relative to this young
lady's performances at the Prince's Theatre Royal,
Glasgow, are gleaned from the local journals :
" After an absence of four or five years from the Glas-
gow stage, Miss Addison re-appeared at the above theatre
last Wednesday evening in a play called Love's Sacrifice;
or, the Rival Merchants, from the pen of Mr. G. W.
Lovell, one of the most successful of our modern drama-
tists. This heart-touching domestic narrative was re-
markably well developed in all its leading parts, and, so
far as Miss Addison is individually concerned, her de-
lineation of the merchant's daughter, Margaret Aylmer,
was an extremely beautiful piece of acting, carefully
studied, natural, and in the highest degree effective. It
seemed to appeal powerfully to the feelings of the au-
dience, who listened throughout with that hushed atten-
tion which denotes an absorbing interest in the business
of the scene. But the part itself, though an interesting
one, is insufficient as a test of Miss Addison's tragic
powers. It is not a character where nice mental discrimi-
nation comes into play. Any actress of ordinary intern,
geuce and education might play it very respectably. For
this reason we preferconfining the few remarks we have to
make regarding Miss Addison's capabilities to her Juliet
and Lady Macbeth, which she represented on Thursday
and Saturday respectively, not that we think either the
one or the other a faultless performance, but they are so
completely antagonistic in their spirit and character, and
require so different a kind of executive power for their
fnll and proper development, that the actress who has
been even partially successful in the embodiment of both
may be said to have won her right to a niche in the
dramatic temple. That Miss Addison has been a dili-
gent and attentive student of Shakespere, her perfect
familiarity with and scholar-like delivery of his text
sufficiently indicates; but she has a greater merit still,
which lies in the forcible and strikingly original manner
in which she interprets that text to her audience. She
is no copyist. She has not taken up the plays of
Shakespere for the mere purpose of learning, parrot-
like, particular passages, and then saying to herself,
How does Miss Faucit read this? or Mrs. Kean that?
but with the confidence inspired by careful and unre-
mitting study, and, at all times relying upon her own
judgment, instead of idly following that of others, she
sucks to discover what is hidden or obscure in the lan-
guage of the poet, and delivers it accordingly. This is
the true secret of her success. She seems to have com-
pletely thrown aside what may be termed the tradi-
tional ' points' in both these p:trts, and boldly aimed
at a new retcling. The result is, that Miss Addison ha,
given us, in both instances, if not a perfect picture, r, -
pl,te with all the poet's beautiful inspirations, which,
indeed, we never could expect, at least one that has the
charm of perfect novelty, with an Etty-like boldness of
colouring, which must command the undivided admira-
tion alike of the critic and the public at large. Having
said thus much, we have left ourselves little room to
dwell upon particular ra,:age!,. Her Juliet does not,
we frankly confess, come up to our ideal of that exqui-
site creation. It is a gem—an undoubted gem—but it
wants polishing. It has many and distinguishing beau-
ties, but it has blemishes also, that arise, not so mech.
from a lack of intellectual application on the part of the
performer, at from a careless indifference to the graces
of style. This must b overcome, and when 'it is, her
Juliet might take rank, as a true and perfectly ori-
ginal conception, with the best the stage bas ever seen.
Lady Macbeth, we believe, is considered to bo Miss Ad-
disou's most successful Shalisperian essay. It is cer-
tainly an extraordinary performance for one so young,
and rivets the attention of the spectator with a fearful
kind of horror. Her energy and passion are immense;
and the guilty ambition, before which every moral bar-
rier must give way, is powerfully and truthfully ex-
presesd. Not a few of the faults which mar the beauty
of her Juliet, constitute in Lady Macbeth its greatest ex-
cellence.

" These two tragedies were exceedingly well put upon
the stage, and creditably enacted. Mr. Morgan made an
excellent Romeo, arid looked the young lover to admira-
tion. Fisher played Mercutio with much spirit. The
ghastly smile with which he gave utterance to his dying
Fun was excellent. Mr. Silver's Friar was a tensible and
judicious performance. Mrs. Bland played the Nurse
with a good deal of taste and discrimination, and was
exceedingly happy in her interviews with Juliet. We
must pay Mr. Glover the compliment of saying that we
never saw him to greater advantage than on Saturday
night in Macbeth. He seemed to be thoroughly imbued
with tho spirit of the scene, and acted with taste and
vigour. The dagger soliloquy was remarkably well
given. The other principal parts were creditably well
filled.

" Last night Miss Addison played Julia, in Knowles's
Hunchback, and this evening she appears in the Conde's
Wife, a play written by Mr. Thomas Smibert, a g' ntle-
man long and honourably connected with the Edinburgh
press. The Conde's Wife was first represented at the
Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, in 1843, where it met with
considerable success, I.lr. Glover sustaining the principal
male character."

Miss Laura Addison appeared last Wednesday night
in Mr. Lovell's beautiful play, entitled Love's Sacrifice.
There have been many opinions given birth to with re-
gard to the talents of this young actress; her rise was
rapid as it was great, and created some excitement in
the dramatic world. We throw all these opinions aside
in the present instance, and judge only from actual ex-
perience, and have not the slightest hesitation in affirm-
ing that, unequal though it was, a finer performance than
Miss Addison's la,t night has seldom been witnessed
within the walls of any theatre, and the applause through-
out was enthusiastic beyond description.

DEATHS OF ILLEGITIMATE CHlLDREN.—Yesterday
Mr. W. Baker, jun., held an inquest in the board-room of
the Court House of the liberty of Norton Folgate, White
Lion-street, Norton Folgate, on view of the body of Alexan-
der Allen, about six weeks old. It appeared that the de-
ceased's mother was waitress at a tavern in the City, where
an intimacy took place between her and a gentleman who
frequented the house, the result of which was, on the Bth
of October last, the birth of the deceased, at the above
lioue, in which lived a female named Mary Faulkner,
who acted as midwife. The deceased child was brought
up by hand. For the first fortnight it had only bread
and water. It afterwards had bread and milk, bat
the diet did not agree with it, and it died on Thursday
last. It was stated by the midwife that the mother did not
intend to suckle her child; but that if she did, she would
have been unable, from the state of her breast. Mr. Hart, sur-
geon to the union, said he was called upon to attend a person
at a house in Upper Blossom-street, when he accidentally
saw the deceased, who was extremely emaciated. He gave
an order for the mother to receive a supply of arrowroot,
milk, &c, from the workhouse. He saw the child eight
days before its death, when he had no hopes of it. Bevis, a
summoning officer, said that this was the third inquest taken
on illegitimate children who had died at the same house. A
juror remarked that the circumstances of the death in this
case were precisely similar to another case where he was
also a juror. The foreman observed it was a subject of no-
toriety for some years past, that young WI reran had gone to
that house enceinte, and that in a snort time after the neigh-
bours have seen infants coflins brought out. The deceased
had been removed from the house in a coffin, to another
house, which raised some suspicion, and which led to the
present inquiry. V,rdict," That the deceased died from the
want of proper nourklinieut suitable to its tender ave."
The verdict wa3 agr;;al to after a long consultation among
the jury.

rf,ln FRENcu TURF —The French Government,
With the view of further improving the breed of horses in
France, are making large purchases of animals of the pure
blood of this country. The Emperor, formerly the property
of the Earl of Albemarle, and wiuuer of the -first Emperor's
Plate at Ascot, has been bought at the instance of the
French authorities for a large sum. .Nunnykirk,.formerly a
favourite for the Derby, and the second for the St. Leger to
the Flying Dutchman, has also been bought within the last
week. Th►s horse is by Touchstone, his data being Mr. Ord's
celebrated mare Beeswing.

The Earl of Shaftesbury, it is understood, intends
resigning the Chairmanship of the House of Lords next ses-
sion. Lord Redesdale has intimated his consent to succeed
the Noble Earl.

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