The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-11 00:00:00

THE SETN. LONDON, THURSDA VEI ENING, JANUAR 11, 1844.:

, b.:T next. But, as Trafalgar-square begins tog( t
up its terraces and walks, new permanent tenants
' --in bronze and marble—take possession of the
reserved pedestals! GEORGE IV., mounted on a
horse of a much more interesting, and becoming,
and distin !Jae air than his rider, is already lo-
cated at one angle of the raised terrace—GEOßGE
IV. by no means bears him like the " finest
gentleman in Europe," but resembles one 01
CHA NT REY'S most indifferent sitters, prac-
tising in a quadrille of equitation at Du-
CROW'S. GEORGE. 111. is to be removed bodily,
with his two portentous tails, to a pedestal at the
corresponding angle. These positions are so
well chosen, that the figures look neither at each
other, nor up to NELSON, but with a sort of
military drill expression of " eyes straight." It
is understood that King CHARLES 1., from
Charing-cross, and King JAMES 11., from the
back of Whitehall Banquetting-house, are to be
the next importations into the square. We are
curious to know whether they, too, are to look at
DRUMMOND'S bank and FA R RANCE'S pastry, like
an advanced guard to the two GEORGES ? Or,
is King
JAMES 11. to be brought with his face
opposite to GEORGE 111., as if to read a posthu-
mous lecture on political as' well as religious
bigotry; whilst the " martyred CHARLES" is to
contemplate, pensively, the wondrous fortune
and quiet end of the voluptuarian successor to his
sceptre, and discoverer of his remains at Wind-
sor? These rumours we give as they have
reached us. To us it seems that the general
effect of such an arrangement as this—of four
such statues—will be at once false in principle,
and incongruous in effect. Who, are responsible
for these locations?

LITERATURE.
MAXWELL'S HISTORY OF THE REBEL,
_ _

LION IN IRELAND 11.11717-98:

Nothing can be more opportune than the sea•
son selected for bringing out a work like this,
which treats of the most exciting, and (if that
which is tragical be so) most interesting portion
of the history of that section of the empire,
which now engrosses the most anxious attention
of, not merely the subjects of the British Throne
of all classes and denominations, but also that of
European and Trans-atlantic nations. The work,
which is to be published periodically in parts, is
likely, if we may augur fromj the first number,
to prove very interesting; and by no means the
least attractive portion of it will be the Illustra-
tions, by George Cruikshank, two of which are
given in the present Number. The subject is one
rich in romantic incident, alid in Maxwell's
hands ought to illustrate well the trite old saw,
that " truth is stranger than fiction." We can-
not, however, but regret that the chapter on the
" Leaders of the United Irishmen" is so short.
It was quite impossible in so brief a space to
give anything like a satisfactory notice of the life
of each of those misguided, but chivalrous
high-mitided men. We quote the following at
random :

" A curious anecdote, related by Dr. Madden in
his biographical notice of Addis Emmet, is cha-
racteristic of the extent to which political and pro-
fessional enthusiasm will hurry individuals. Emmet
was retained for some persons charged with the ad-
ministration of unlawful oaths—at the time a capital
offence—and was addressing the Court in arrest of
judgment.

` lie took up the pleadings in which the words of
the oath were recited, and read them in a very de-
liberate manner, and with all the gravity of a man
who felt thut he was binding his soul by the obliga-
tions of a solemn oath. The words were to the fol-
lowing effect :—" I, A. 8., in the presence of God, do
pledge myself to my country, that I will use all my
abilities and influence in the attainment of an im-
partial and adequate representation of the Irish nation
in Parliament; and, as a means of absolute and imme-
diate necessity in the establishment of this chief go d
of Ireland, I will endeavour, as much as lies in my
ability, to forward a brotherhood of affection, an
identity of interests, a communion of rights, and an
union of power, among Irishmen of all religious per-
suasions, without which every reform in Parliament
must be partial, not national, inadequate to the wants,
delusive to the wishes, and insufficient to the freedom
and happiness of this country."
" Having read the test--defended its obligations
with a power of reasoning and a display of legal
knowledge, in reference to the subject of the dis-
tinction between legal and illegal oaths, which the
counsel for the prosecution described as producing
an extraordinary impression—he addressed the Court
in the following terms :
_ _ _ _ _

" My Lords,—Here, in the presence of this legal
Court, this crowded auditory—in the presence of the
Being that sees and witnesses, and directs this
judicial tribunal—here, my Lords, I, myself, in the
presence of God, declare, I take the oath.'

" He then took the book that was on the table,
kissed it, and sat down. No steps were taken by the
Court against the newly-sworn United Irishman :
the amazement of its functionaries left them in no
fit state of mind either for remonstrance or approval.
The prisoners received a very lenient sentence. "

BOOK OF BRITISH BALLADS. Part XII.
How, London, 1844.
The illustrations of this Part are its principal
recommendations, the majority of them being
executed in a very superior style of art, and dis.
playing powers of fancy of no ordinary character.
As for the Ballads, they are merely republica-
tions from Percy, Ritson, Scott, Motherwell,
and other well-known collectors of these pleas..
ing old popular poems.

ST. JOHN'S NEW CHURCH, NOT-
TING-HILL, BAYSWATER.
The ceremony of laying the first stone of the above
church took place on Monday last by the Venerable
Archdeacon Sinclair, Vicar of Kensington, in the pre-
sence of a numerous, and, considering the inclement
period of the season, highly respectable and fashionable
assemblage. Among those present e e observed the Rev.
Messrs. Kennedy, Phillips, Pitman, Sherringham, Theyre
Smith, Howlett, Hessey, Burnell, and Rowlatt. The
Earl of Hopetoun, Sir John Conroy, Sir Henry Willock,
and the Hon. Mr. Lascelles, C. K. Murray, Esq., W. A.
Shaw, Esq., (trustees with the Venerable Archdeacon),
Richard Roy, Esq. (who has munificently presented the
site of the ground on which the edifice is to be erected),
Thomas Allason, Esq., and Messrs. Stevens and Alex-
ander, architects.
Shortly after one o'clock the proceedings were com-
menced by the Venerable Archdeacon Sinclair, who
addressed the assembly as follows
My Christian Brethren—l have long looked forward
to the solemnities of this day with mingled feelings of
satisfaction and anxiety—of satisfaction, from the hope
that we are about to provide for the grievous spiritual
destitution in this neighbourhood ; and of anxiety,
.from
thg inadequacy of our funds as yet for the completion of
the undertaking. That additional church accommoda-
tion is most urgently required in this portion of the
parish, no man can doubt who is at all acquainted with
the circumstances of the case ; no man can doubt it who
is aware that there is a population of 12,000 persons,
after all deductions still connected with our parish
church ; that for this vast number only 1,200 sittings
are provided, and that of those only 80 are accessible to
the poor, so that to our shame one of the most
remarkable characteristics of Christianity was well nigh
obliterated among us, that to the poor the Gospel should
he preached. In considering how the deficiency in our
funds may be provided for I am not without hopes that
our wants may elicit contributions even from friends and
strangers at a distance. From them, however, no great
amount of support can be expected. We must look
especially to the inhabitants of this parish. I trust that
all, to whatever district they may belong, will feel the
strong ties of interest and sympathy which should unite
them to their fellow parishioners, and induce them to
co-operate in this work. I look with greater confidence
to those who have attended at the parish church, many
of whom have shown an example which I sincerely
wish all will follow. I trust above all to the in-
habitants of this neighbourhood—to those whose
spiritual wants we are about to provide for—
to those who hope here to worship—here to be
instructed in the truths of religion—here to be prepared
for heaven. We read in Holy Scripture, that when
Moses was about to erect a tabernacle in the wilderness,
he called the congregation of the. children of Israel to-
gether, and gave commandment that whosoever had a
willing heart should bring an offering to the sanctuary
of God. The result of this commandment is ever me-
morable. The liberality of the people went beyond the
exigency of the case, and it was actually necessary to
issue a proclamation throughout the camp, forbidding
them to give more. Again, when David was preparing
to build the temple, we read that he also called a solemn
assembly, and demanded of them, " Which of you is
willing, this day, to consecrate his service unto heaven?"
The result, again, was ever memorable. The people,
in a burst of generous enthusiasm, outvied each
other in bringing gold, and silver, and brass, and
precious stones of all kinds, into the treasury of
God, and instead of claiming merit for this unexampled
liberality, they returned thanks to God for the opportu-
nity afforded them of expressing their gratitude for his
mercies, and in the humblest terms of adoration ex-
claimed—" All things come of thee, and of thine own
have we given thee !" And what, my Christain brethren,
were the blessings which the children of Israel so eagerly
and so magnificently acknowledged ? Their social pri-
vileges and advantages, their redemption from the bon-
dage of Egypt, their prospect of a Messiah. And do
not we, as citizens of Great Britain, enjoy social privi-
leges beyond any nation that ever lived under heaven ?
Have not we, as Christians, been delivered from an in-
finitely more galling yoke than that of Egypt, and are
not we, as Christians, in full possession of those glorious
promises of which the Jews saw only the shadows and
the types ? Let us not, then, submit to be outdone by
them in Christian liberality. Let us remember the ap-
peal of the Apostle to our Christian sensibilities—" Ye
Ye are not redeemed with are bought with a price
corruptible things"—" Ye know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for your sakes
he became poor, that we, through his poverty, might
become rich."
After a prayer from the Venerable Archdeacon, the cere-
mony of laying the stone took place, and the proceedings
were concluded by prayer and a benediction from the
Venerable Archdeacon.

THE CURRENCY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SECOND LETTER.

Stu,—The great deficiency in our present currency,
to meet the high tax-included prices of the United
Kingdom, has become quite palpable all over the coun-
try ; and it has been proposed by the currency-men of
Birmingham to extend the currency, by raising the
mint price of the precious metals 50 per cent. ; (wining
the crown-piece into 7s. 6d. ; or, in other words, by re-
ducing the size of the coins in that proportion. But
this would be no remedy. It must be clear to every
man of common sense, that the only effect of such mea-
sure would be, to deprive every creditor by one-third of
his debt without payment or satisfaction. But the cause
of truth and justice never, in any case, can be aided
by such means as the commission of one act of robbery
as a set off against another. In the present case, it
would not operate, in the very nature of things, as a
sound means of extending the currency, for ls. 6d.
would then be demanded for every shilling in the in-
trinsic portion of price at present, there being a neces-
sary connexion between the natural prices of commodi-
ties and the precious metals. The raising of the
mint price of these metals, by reducing the size of the
coins, will never, it is clear, increase the limit of
these metals in the least degree. The remaining two-
thirds of the taxes, which at present enter into
prices, would still raise prices above the limit
of the precious metals, and therefore they could
not form a sound medium of exchange. Even if such
reduction in the size of the coins of this country could be
supposed to have the effect of increasing the limit of
these metals, it would be productive of no remedy, for
the limit of the precious metals being the universal
standard all over the world, anything effecting a change
in that standard would produce no remedy, for the prices
of commodities in this country being still artificially in-
creased, to the extent of the two-thirds of the present
taxes that would still remain beyond the natural amount
of these prices, to which alone the precious metals are
applicable as the measure of value, a currency of these
metals would still be unsound, because insufficient in
quantity.
The proper remedy is evidently the taxing of the cur-
rency itself, in the same ratio as the prices of commodi-
ties are found on the average to be taxed or increased by
our system of taxation, above their natural amount ; for
then the currency and the commodity being alike artifi-
cially raised, or increased, the oise above the natural
limit of the precious metals, and the other above the
natural or intrinsic amount f price, they would in that
way become fair and just equivalents for one another,
and bear the same relation to one another as before taxes
were first imposed on commodities. In no other way can
they may be made fair and just equivalents, without dis-
turbing the universal standard of value among all civilised
nations.
Sir Robert Peel laments the sufferings of the labour-
ing classes, but says that the Legislature can do nothing
to help them—cannot raise wages by Act of Parliament
—and that wages, like all other things, even if the la-
bouring classes should die of starvation, must be left to
find their own level. He falsely asserts that the cur-
rency has nothing whatever to do with the present dis-
tress, that the distress is caused by over-banking,
over-production, over -speculation, over-population, and
over this and over that ; but all these over-
doings are evidently brought forward, as every
sensible man must have seen from the begin-
ning, for the mere purpose of deception. True, wages
aught to be left to find their own level. Why, then, does
Sir R. Peel, taking advantage of the ignorance of the labour-
ing classes, and their incapacity for abstruse reflection, put
in a secret hidden pin in his machinery, the existence of
which he knows they are unable to detect, to prevent
wages from finding their own level ? The precious
metals being capable of measuring the prices of commo-
dities at their natural extent only, without taxes, if the
domestic currency, whether of paper or gold, established
by law, be insufficient, even to the extent of sixpence in
the pound, to cover these prices, with the whole taxes
thrown into them, to the extent of that sixpence, it is
quite evident, is the labourer effectually defrauded of his
hire. Because, the taxes being a certain portion of the
precious metals, are evidently the immoveable part of
price, and the wages of labour, therefore, must give way,
and they are forced to give way, and are expelled from
price, to make room for the taxes ; and this is the whole
secret of the present distress.
The Bullion Committee of 1818, occupied their time
endeavouring to prove that the value of the Bank of
England's notes were depreciated, in reference to the
value of gold and silver moqey as they existed in other
countries where our system of indirect taxation had no
place, which could not well be disputed. But that was
not the question before them. The question at issue
was, whether the Bank of England notes were depre-
ciated in reference to the high artificial, because tax-
included, prices of commodities, as then existiug in this
country ; and whether, in that the true point of view,
they were a departure from the universal standard
of the precious metals. That they were not exchangeable
for gold was nothing to the purpose; they were exchange-
able for commodities bearing very high artificial prices,
125 per cent, at least, upon the average, above their na-
tural amount. They were, indeed, a departure from the
universal standard, but in the opposive direction from
that alleged; for, numerous as the notes of the Bank
were, they were still insufficient fairly to meet those
very high artificial prices ; and, consequently, short of
their due relation to the universal standard.

The tendency of a return to specie payments, there-
fore, recommended by that deeply interested Committee,
was not to cause a rise of 4 or 5 per cent. only in the
value of the then existing currency, as the cunning men
who sat upon it falsely pretended. It did not create a
rise in the value of the currency of 30 or 40 per cent.
only, as the currency men of Birmingham afterwards
erroneously asserted was the actual result of that mea-
sure; but the direct tendency of the return to specie
payments was, to raise the value of money full 125 per
cent. above its then value, that being the average amount
to which the prices of all commodities had been artifici-
ally increased by taxation, as compared with their na-
tural or intrinsic prices without taxation. Because, the
precious metals being limited by nature as already ob-
served, in amount, and incapable of measuring the prices
of commodities except at their natural amount, the taxes
fell either to be thrown back upon the producers of
taxed commodities, who had advanced them, or the
wages of labour were to be expelled from prices, to make
room for the taxes; and the money owner, therefore,
was , benefited to the whole extent of the taxes, at the

expense of the industry of the country, his money being
available to him to the extent of 125 per cent. beyond
what it had ever been available before.

Had the Currency Bill of 1819, which carried the re-
commendation of the Bullion Committee into effect, borne
its true title, describing its real objects, as it ought to
have done, it would have run thus, " A Bill to confiscate
the means of every debtor in the United Kingdon, for
the benefit of his creditor, to the extent of 125 per cent.
on the amount of the debt which he owed, irrespective
of the true and lawful payment of the debt itself ;
to increase the whole public burdens of the country, for
the benefit of fundholders, and other recipients of those
burdens, 125 per cent. above their present amount ; to
make over in perpetual slavery the whole of the labour-
ing classes, without any pretext whatever, or any con-
sideration in return, to the class of money capitalists,
to the extent of four-ninth parts of their whole labour,
and to render their condition worse than ever was that
of the black slaves of Jamaica before their emancipa-
tion ; and, finally, to•cut up industry by the roots, and
to sacrifice the country to foreign nations." This
was the true title of that Bill, and had it borne
this its true title, neither the plausible super-
ficial arguments of Sir Robert Peel, nor all
the bayonets which the Duke of Wellington commanded,
could have passed that Bill. But Sir Robert Peel knew
that he addressed himself to willing hearers, who re-
quired no argument of his, but a pretext merely for
passing that fatal measure. It is now seen by every
one, that this is the true description of that deadly Bill,
for one and all of these objects have been, and are fast
being carried into execution.
Let us, for a moment, compare the condition of the
black slaves of Jamaica before their emancipation with
the present white slaves of England, and it will at once
appear that the difference in their condition is greatly in
favour of the former. The former had their whole la-
bour made over to their owners out and out, but coupled
with this important condition, that the owners were le-
gally bound for their comfort, able subsistence, in food,
clothing, and house accommodation ; and the bligation
by law was strengthened by its being also the interest
of the owners themselves to (see to those things, for by
attention to the comforts of their slaves only could they
hope to make the most of their labour. The power of
the slave-owner over his slave was, no doubt, sometimes
abused, but that was the exception, not the rule, for the
very reason that the interest of the slave-owner lay in
treating
his slave with kindness. What is now the con-

dition of the w hite slaves of England. Theyv have
five-ninth parts of their whole labour confisca-
ted to the money-owner, through an insufficient
currency, which necessarily expels their wages to that
extent from the prices of commodities the produce of
that labour, and they are compelled to pay, out of the
four-ninth part of their labour remaining, the whole
indirect taxes of the country, falling on them as con-
sumers of the taxed necessaries of life, before they can
command these necessaries ; and what remains is utterly
inadequate for their subsistence, even in the meanest

way. The white slave-owner, the monoy capitalist, is
entitled by law to draw five-ninth parts of the labour of
his slave, absolutely and without any drawback, or de-
duction or abatement whatever ; and the white slave of
England may rot upon a dunghill for him. Look at the
condition of the silk weavers of Spitalfields, who were
among the first victims of the new system of currency—
of the hand-loom weavers all over the country—and
even of the power-loom weavers now—of the common
sailor—ot the agricultural labourer, who is now busy
burning the ricks of his employer, out of revenge—and
of all classes of labourers, without discrimination or ex-

ception, whose wages are now utterly insufficient for their
subsistence in any way whatever ; while the prices of
the necessaries of life, and of all other commodities, are
still, by reason of taxation, beyond what they are in any
other country. Look at the condition of the entire
population of Ireland, who have all been reduced by the
same means to the lowest state of destitution and degra-
dation.

When the Currency Bill of 1819 was introduced into
the House of Commons, the money power fixed upon
Sir Robert Peel to carry it through that House for them.
He was then a young man, but as yet unknown to fame.
Being of ignoble birth, he saw that his road to power lay
through the wealthy classes, and not through the ancient
nobility ; and, notwithstanding of his own ample for-
tune, ho stooped to be the mean tool of the money
power, and to pander to their lusts, and to their sordid,
avaricious, and greedy desires ; and he accomplished
for them the passing of that deadly measure—their Cur-.

Bill ti,ar year, a measure of which he still
boasts. See, Gentlemen (has he often said to
them since), what, I have done for you. It
was I who carried your. Currency Bill cf

1819, „;bach / las doubled the fortunes of every one of
you ! ;, indeed, doubled their fortunes, but at
whose e xpen se ? At the expense of the humble but
.try of his country. At the expense of the
honest
sons of the se very men through whose toil, and the sweat of -whose brows his fathermade made that
ample fot 'tale wh;_ch he now inherits. Whether his re-
ward be a cornricA and a pension, to which he, no doubt,
looks for yard ..to as the crowning reward of his services
to the mo ney ;Dower, or whatever may be his fate in this
world, tilt t nary le of Sir Robert Peel will descend to pos-
terity wi ;h w idying and unenviable fame.—l am, Sir,
your mos t obe dicta servant, JAMES PEDIE.
Edinburgh, Old Broughton, Jan. 8, 1844.

THE CURRENCY.
'O 7 HE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
-" l 3eirniard," I presume, will admit that
the Bank of England is compelled to redeem its
notes, in gold, at 31. 17s. 103 d. per oz. This
granted, it is a /natter of very little importance
whether its notes are made payable to bearer in
grains of wohl, or in sovereigns of full weight and
fineness.
Either a 'banker's note is or is not not referable
to a fixed
...and determined standard of value.
The law say s the standard is gold. Now, if a
banker's not is not referable to gold it is clear it
cannot be r eferable to paper ONLY, paper not
being a stall( lard, and intrinsically worth little or
nothing. N or can it be referable either to wine
or sugar, n &tiler of these articles being standards
of value.
Though the Bank of England note " did not
go down" in London it certainly did go down in
Paris and other European capitals, and, most
assuredly, would have gone down to a very con-
siderable d iscount in England, had not Parlia-
ment provi ided against it.
Now, if m bar.ker's note, with reference to gold
or silver al; .sta.9 'dards, falls to a discount is not the
note thereby depreciated ?
:Yours, &c., GERMANICUS.
Manches tel Jan. 10, 1844.

MR. MUNTZ.
TO 2'l!E EDITOR OF THE SUN.
-ye ry much regret that Mr. Muntz
should have :taken my remarks, on his proposi-
tion for raising the silver coin from ss. 2d. to
7s. Gd. per ounce, otherwise than as badinage, or
that the quott. ttion used was a purposed insult on
the town or Birmingham. Had Mr. Muntz re-
sided in any other town, and a quotation had
entered my • memory at the moment, which I
fancied would have dove-tailed, I should have
used it prei fisely as I did the one I adopted.
There is no I sett er test as to the value of a pro-
- position than; ridicule, for if it will not stand
such test, the: :proposer may be satisfied that that
which he in troduced is valueless. While I
wrote I smiled t—l did not sneer. If Mr. Muntz
imagined I intended to hit him hard personally,
no doubt no he considers that he has revenged
himself by hi -3 letter to you on my jeu d'esprit,
so, at any re .te, we may now cry quits; and
I trust, that ;any observations I may make in
future on 1M r. Muntz's proposition, will be
in great goc ,d humour, and in kindly feel-
ing between. each of us, for I purpose at
an early period to address you on the sub-
ject of raisi ag the coin, with the intention of
demonstratii ig that it would be a DIABOLICAL
ROBBERY to discharge debts, contracted in the
present mea sure of our coins, in the tale of silver
coin raised i i•om ss. 2d. to 7s. Gd. per ounce. And
in doing so, I shall have no more intention to
insult Mr. -Aluntz, than the editor of the Times
intended a personal insult to Mr. A ttwood, when
he assertedthat " for a nation to evade the pay-
ment of a debt, by legislating to change the
value of the terms in which the bargain is ex-
pressed, is a piece of rascality not, we trust, in
reserve for an English Parliament."
By your ]eading articles, I perceive your
opinions on money differs from my own, there-
fore your iusertion of my lucubrations on this
subject shoxs your impartiality i and your inser-
tion of currency articles, originally communi-
cated to editors of other newspapers, so concen-
trates the •arguments for and against various pro-
positions on this affair, as to make your journal
doubly valuable. Therefore, I trust you will
continue to copy, in The Sun, the communica-
tions made to other newspapers, on the very in-
teresting subject of monetary affairs.---I am, Sir,
your's, &c. GORDIUS.
Ilfracombe, Jan. 10, 1844.

HAYMARKET THEATRE.
The comedy of The Merry Wives of Windsor
was revived as this theatre last evening, Strick-
land appearing as Sir John Falstaff for the first
time. The character of Falstaff is the most per-
fectly comic character that ever was drawn ; but
it is also the most difficult character to embody'
in the whole range of the drama. A wit, a hu-
mourist, a sensualist, a man of expensive habits,
but of slender means, mixing on familiar terms
with men of all ranks, from the prince to the
tapster, and yet, while associating with tapsters,
never forgetting that be might be the companion
of princes; a gentleman by birth (his grandfather
could write himself armiger, or what right bad
he to a seal ring ?), by education (he bad been
page to Thomas Moubray, Duke of Norfolk),
and by station (he was a knight in days when
knighthood could only be won by military ser-
vice)—Falstaff was yet, at times, compelled by
his necessities, " to leave the fear of God on the
left hand," and to live by his wits. To the world
—however much he might indulge his rolicking,
social humour, among his more immediate asso-
ciates—to the world he always kept up his dig-
nity—" Jack to my familiars—Sir John to the
rest of Europe." This latter part of the sentence
is
in
general too much disregarded by our actors.
They make him Jack to everybody; there is no
‘ rest of Europe" to whom he is Sir John. This
is not what Shakspeare intended, and we are
happy to say that it is a fault into which Mr.
Strickland did not fall. Mr. Strickland has added
immensely to his already high reputation as a
Shaksperian actor by his Falstaff of last evening.
To say that his is the best Falstaff on the stage is
not doing justice to the merits of his very admi-
rable delineation—it is the only truly Shaksperian
Falstaff that we have ever seen. The humours of
the character are brought out in strong relief—
the wit overflows from the heart ; he is witty,
not because he is anxious to shine, but because it
is his nature—he cannot help it—and throughout
the whole character it is evident that he is a man
who has been used to good society. His very
love-making, sensual and absurd as it is, is yet
gentlemanly withal, and we cannot but feel that,
could he have knocked some twenty years off his
age, and some ten stone off his weight, Master
Ford's jealousy might not have been altogether
causeless. His air throughout was that of one ,
who having been in his youth a man, a bonnes
fortunes, could not bring himself to believe
but there must have been some error in
the date of his birth as recorded in the
parish register, and that, as in him grey
hairs were not the signs of wisdom, so
neither were they the signs of age. It is usnal
in noticing the first appearance of an actor in a
new character to mention the various points he
made. Be it Strickland's great praise that lie
made no point, technically so called. The cha-
racter from beginning to end was so admirably and
so equally sustained, that it would be impossible to
select any one part for particular commendation,
without being guilty of injustice towards every
other part which was left unmentioned. Strick-
land has long stood unrivalled as the delineator
of Shakspeare's humorists—(who that has ever
seen it can forget his Sir Toby Belch),—and his
Falstaff is by far his greatest and his best charac-
ter. He was called for at the fall of the cur-
tain, and announced the play for repetition every
evening, amidst the rapturous applause of one of
the most crowded audiences ever assembled
within the walls of the Haymarket. The comedy
is, in other respects, very strongly cast. We had
Madame Vestris and Mrs. Nisbett as the wives,
Charles Mathews as Slender, Mrs. Glover as
Mrs. Quickly, and James Bland as Doctor Caius.
Webster, as Sir Hugh Evans, was irresistibly
comic. He is the only Sir Hugh who gives us
anything like the dialect of the Welsh parson.
The duelling scene was admirable. Stuart made
more of Mr. Ford than we have before seen
made of that victim of the green-eyed mon-
ster. In Stuart's hands Ford becomes
really a character, and we feel an in-
terest in his fate, although we laugh
at his unfounded fears. The interspersed music
was prettily given, and Madame Vestris and Miss
Matley were encored in the duet " I know a
bank." The Gambols of Oberon and Puck
followed, introducing Professor Risley and his
son. The audience were delighted with the truly
elegant and classical performances of this won-
derfully graceful boy. We scarcely know how
to designate these unique performances. " The
poetry of motion," which would be perhaps the
most proper term to give them, is too hack-
neyed to be applied to that which is so unique,
so original, and so inimitable. Master Risley, in
fact, performs an aerial ballet, for, supported on
the hands or feet of his father, lie accomplishes
all the most perfect of ballet dancers -could
accomplish on the stage—graceful poses—sta-
tesque attitudes—intricate and elaborate pas
tours de force, astonishing equally by their ease
and elegance—tour d'adresse, accomplished
with the most exquisite neatness and precision—
Such are the performances of this wonderfully
graceful child. The applause was rapturous
throughout, and at the conclusion the father and
son were again called forward to receive the
cordial greetings of the audience. The Fair