The Sun.
London, England, 1845-09-05 00:00:00

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

Poole's drama, entitled Past and P,ese),t, was revived
at this theatre last evening, and Was received with that
enthusiasm which its representation never fails to elicit
when Farren acts the part of Larose. This was one of
the earliest of those dramas founded on the French Re-
volutioh, Which are divided into epochs, and, ce'tes, it is
°tie of lie beit--tis itn acting play, perhaps the very best.
If we mistake not, this sPas also the earliest drama in
which Farren delineated the various phases of old age.
In the first act (1789) he is a hearty, well-formed man
of 53, the faithful steward of the Marquis St. Victor
(Mr. Sigel), sioring his master and his family,
the friend and playfellow of young Julian
de St. Victor (Miss Julia Bennett), the Mar-
quis's son. In the second act, 1793, he is disguised as a
wood-cutter, the friend and safeguard of his master, then
a prisoner in the Conoiergerie. A casket of treasure
has been entrusted to his care, and religiously does he
keep his trusts In the third act, 1829, he is an old man
of upwards of 90. St, Victor has been murdered in the
Revolution, Julian has been killed at the head of his
regiment, and old Larose is living near the chateau
de St. Victor, in Normandy. The son of Julian,
the heir to the St,. Victor property, arrives there.
The old man recognises him, and, napkin on arm, serves
him at table as he had been wont of yore to serve his
grandfather. He tells the boy of the hidden casket of
treasure, takes him to the chateau, and endeavours to
revive his own recollections as to where be had secreted
the precious treasure. The sight of the various rooms
revives former recollections. He sees his old master
being dragged away by the revolutionary officers —he
hears the sounds of horror of that dreadful night. The
boy endeavours to bring him back to the casket. He tot-
ters round and round the room—he has forgotten the spot
where it is hidden. At length a casual word brings back
his memory ; the casket is found hidden behind a grate ;
it is brought forward ; the old man joins together the
hands of the youth and of his lady-lore, blesses them,
and dies. Nothing can be more beautiful, more pathetic,
more true to nature, more artist-like, in the highest
sense of the term, than the performance of Farren in
this last act. It is impossible to describe it. It must be
seen—it must be felt to be appreciated. We say feta ad-
visedly, for it goes at once to the heart, and that so
completely, that it is impossible to criticise it until,
by seeing it frequently, one has become case-hardened.
Miss Julia Bennett's young St. Victor was a very spi-
rited performance ; it is, perhaps, the best she has yet
done. She gave the laughing joyousness of the brave,
gay, high-spirited youth—the votary of love, and wit,
and war—sans souci et sans six sous—to the life. Mr.
H. Roll's Count de Florville was very good. In the two
first acts, as the polished, empty-headed, careless fop,
he was very good ; but, in the last act, as the
old beau—the man of sixty-three, the ci-devant
jeune homme, he was more than good—he was
artistical—the distinction between the young
fop and the old fop was beautifully discriminated, and
was admirably preserved. Mr. Stuart, as the Marquis
St. Victor, made mart of the character than we ever
remember to have seen made of it. There is a
power and an intensity in Stuart's acting which inva-
riably tells in such characters as this. Farren was called
for at the fall of the curtain, and it is not often that a
call is so well deserved. The house was crowded ; and
no doubt Past and Present will draw crowded houses for
many nights to come.

THE CROYDuN ATMOSPHERIC

RAILWAY.

Yesterday having been appointed for the purpose of
publicly testing the working qualities of the atmospheric
railway laid down from the Dartmouth Arms to Croydon,
a distance of five and a half miles, the public, or at least
that portion of it supposed to be interested in these mat-
ters, was invited to witness the experiments. Among
the many who were present, we noticed Lord Claude
Hamilton, I\LP., and several other persons of high stand-
ing in the scientific world. The Chairman and Direc-
tors of the Croydon Company were also in attendance.
It had been arranged that the first " trip" should have
been at two o'clock, but some unforeseen circumstances
arose to defeat this intention, and it was nearly three
ere the train departed from the further terminus. The
last of the experiments concluded at about six o'clock.
The atmospheric principle is probably known to the
greater portion of our readers, but a brief recapitula-
tion of the principal features upon the present line may
not be considered out of place.
We have said that the length of railway completed is
five and a half miles ; workmen are, hoNi ever, busily
employed in laying down tubes for the remaining five
miles to London, and next summer will probably see,
in a finished state, a through line to Epping (in
all eighteen miles), intended to connect with the railway
known as the Portsmouth Atmospheric, which received
the sanction of Parliament during the bygone session.
Throughout the length of line is laid down between the
rails a tube of iron, having a groove in its upper surface
into which a piston, some eighteen inches in diameter,
is sunk, the same piston being connected with the lead-
ing carriage of the train. Three stationary engines,
each of two fifty-horse power, at nearly equal distances,
the centre at Norwood, and the remaining two at either
extreme, exhaust the air from before the train, and a
valve behind giving it admission, the atmospheric pres-
sure upon the piston drives the carriages on in exactly
the same proportion with the vacuum formed before
them. To prevent any. loss by leakage, a leathern flap,
protected by plates of iron, covers the groove. A wheel
going before the piston raises the flap, while, another
wheel following, closes it, and with a preparation of bees-
wax and tallow, so to speak, so hermetically seals it,
that not the slightest loss is in this way sustained. The
ruling gradient is 1 in 600, excepting at the crossing of
the Brighton line, where the engineer has, in the most
masterly manner, obviated all the disadvantages arising
from a crossing on the level by leading the Croydon
over the former line by a wooden bridge at an inclina-
tion of 1 in 50.

At fourteen minutes to three o'clock, by order of
Mr. Samuda, who directed the proceedings, the engines
were ordered to exhaust the tube. That at Norwood,
however, not being in working trim, was dispensed with,
and the further engine, at the Dartmouth Arms (a dis-
tance, be it remembered, of five miles and a half), was
alone required. The train, consisting of seventeen car-
riages, filled to overflowing, and weighing, probably,
above eighty tons, started from Croydon at the rate of
some thirty miles an hour, and continued that speed
till it reached the extreme end, thus silencing for ever
the scientific wiseacres, who before the Committees at
Westminster affirmed that any stationary engine at a
greater distance than three miles would be useless, be-
cause it could only insure a speed of 15 miles an hour.
After a few minutes spent at the Dartmouth Arms, Mr.
Samuda returned over the same ground at very nearly,
if not at the same, rate of travelling. It was then deter-
mined to test the principle at an increased speed, and
after the lapse of some time the train, with only eight
carriages, was started, and with a vacuum of from 201bs.
to 2fllbs. on the square inch, it came up to 70 miles an
hour, and this too over the rising inclination of one in
fifty. The return trip was equally satisfactory. The
result amply verified the promises made by Mr. Samuda
before the Railway Committees, and it requires no very
keen perception to see, that before many years have
gone by locomotive engines, like the stage-coach horses
of yore, shall have left but a name behind them.
The advantages are manifest, for not only is there no
possibility of accident, but even with the. greater, as
well as with the lesser speed, the motion was such that
we could write with the greatest ease, even in a third-
class carriage, and it might in a first-class almost be
doubted whether there were any motion at all. With
respect to the stationary engine-houses, they are con-
structed in the best possible taste, a sort of Gothic-
Elizabethan, and with their hi,:h chimneys, like church
spires, forming not only a striking but a pleasing fea-
ture in the landscape.
Along the line there were crowds of lookers-on, who
seemed deeply interested in the result.
Mr. Samuda will continue his experiments until
the line is opened, which is expected in a fortnight
or three weeks. This much is evident, that the success
of the principle is decisive, and that Mr. Samuda, who
has been, if not the creator, certainly the improver,
deserves well of his country.