The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-16 00:00:00

THE THEATRES.

ADELPHL
A clever burlesque of Telemachus was produced at
this theatre last evening. Archbishop Fenelon has
been minted at the Adelphi into Stirling Coyne, to the
great delight of her Majesty's laughter-loving lieges.
There are several excellent hits in this burlesque, all
of which told with effect ; but with such a cast as
that of last night, a piece of much less merit than
Telemachus must have been successful. There was
Wright, as Calypso, dancing is la Taglioni, and sing-
ing a la Persiani, as he alone can sing and dance ;
there was Paul Bedford as Mentor, the tormentor of
Telemachus, who was ekcellently personated by
Miss Woolgar ; while Miss Ellen Chaplin was Cupid,
the conductor of a buss from Bow to (H)arrow.
Eucharis, the nymph, the lady-love of Teletnachtis,
was very cleverly acted by Miss E. Harding, a young
lady whom we do not recollect to have seen before on
the Adelphi boards. She had but little to do, but
that little was done wall. She has a pleasing voice,
i
and sings with taste ; her action s exeeedingly
graceful, added to which she is a very pretty girl.
We hope to see more of Miss E. Harding. There
was a Negro Polka introduced, ili the Singing and
dabcing of which to a banjo a9companiment,
S. Cowell elicited shouts of laughter. Of course it
was encored. Wright, too, gave an excellent imitation
of Macready in the arrow- shooting scene of Willittm
Tell, and Was much applauded. There was some
very pretty dancing introduced, and the whole was
put upon the stage in the most complete style pos-
sible. The scenery was superb, and the whole
mounting of the cede was worthy of Webster's fame.
It was preceded by Cesar de Bazan, and followed by
the Fox and the Goose. The house Was a bumper,

1844.LITERATURt
HISTORY S
o MI! 2 rols.
tley,The history before us) which is edited by Mary
Howitt, is a translation from the Swedish of Anders
Fryxell, and has=as We learn fl'ott the prefaee.:----.%-met
with great suctess in the author's native country, the
first volume having already gone through not less than
six editions. it Ji singtddr the this i;Oliiiii6 'Whin
had 4i','"en so popular in Sweden, is the most fabulous
of any portion of the history; and will most likely be
the least approved ai it Con-
sist's a old Scandinavian legends, which, for the most
part, are of a irideologs bbaratter; ,and throws little
or no light oh thtt historica' eventsof the Yeihote pu,
riod to which they refer. When the author comes
down to a more authentic epoch, then his work in-
creases greatly in interest and his account of—what he
calls —the "Luther!) Period," aboutide in instructive
information: , The presetit portion, 0( hii historr Closes
with this Stirring and eventful period, but we nope lie
will be induced to carry it down to the times of Ber-
nadotte, the late King, which are not the least honour- I
able in the Swedish annals.

~'~l.

DARk FAL("ON. 4 Vols.
Bentley, London, 1844.
The author of this Oriental tale, which refers to
events of comparatively recent occurrence in Persian
history, is Mr. Bailie Praser, already favourably
known to the novel-reading portion of the community
by his romance of the "Kureilbash"—a work only
inferior in power to Hope's " Anastaalus?' The scene
of his present narrative is laid for the most part on
the Persian frontiers, and opens with a graphic descrip-
tion—the author excels in the descriptive—of a night
march in a snow-storm, among the mountains of the
Caucasus, which is undertaken by a party of horse-
men, consisting of Jaaffer Koolee Khan and his
attendants, who are journeying towards the residence
of the former's brother, Aga Mahomed Khan—an en-
terprising soldier of fortune, who, after many singular
reverses of fortune, contrived to raise himself to the
throne of Persia. The character of this wily, am-
bitious adventurer, is drawn with uncommon force,
and contrasts admirably with that of his more
generous kinsman, Jaaffer Koolee Khan, who ulti-
mately falls a victim to the distrust of his royal
brother. The hero of the story is a young orphan,
known by the name of the "Dark Falcon," who is
protected through life by a mysterious, Meg Merrilies
sort of woman, and after engaging in the service of
Jaaffer, is, on his death, transferred to the household
of Mahomed Khan, then Shah of Persia, and re-
warded by the hand of a young girl of the Kajar
tribe—the history of whose constant affection for him,
during the darkest season of adversity, when there
seemed to be scarcely a hope that the lovers should
again meet, forms the most touching and interesting
eir,sode in the romance. In the course of his tale,
Mr. Fraser gives us several animated sketches of do-
me'stic life among the nomadic Toorkoman tribes,
v,hich bear every appearance of being scrupulously
accurate. In places he is a little too much given to
prolixity ; and not a few of his incidents have the
slightest possible connexion with the main plot of his
story, which they tend rather to encumber than
assist; but as a faithful picture of Oriental manners,
the work deserves all, the success that it will most
likely meet with.