The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-09 00:00:00

THE LYCEUM.

A dramatic version of Boz's popular tale" Martin Chuzzie-
wit," was brought out for the first time last night at this
amusing little theatre, and was received throughout with
considerable applause. The drama is, we understand, from
the pen -of Mr. E. Stirling, and the main incidents of the
story have been put together with no ordinary skill. The
characters, too, for the most part, were sustained with great
ability ;—Mr. Frank -Matthews as Pecksniff, with his hair
standing up id three separate " Brutus's," was the engraving
animated for the occasion. Tom Pinch's bald' head sur-
rounded by the fringe of hair was perfection. This same Tom
was delicately acted by Meadows, but there is no opportu-
nity of realising the Tom Pinch of the book. Mr. Keeley is
Mrs. Gamp, and his sentimentality is capital; Mrs. Keeley
is the boy Bailey, and dashes through it with hilarious flip-
pancy. The ruffian Jonas is played by Mr. Emery, who dis-
plays a great deal of talent- of somewhat a coarse kind, and
has evidently studied the varieties of the character as a surly
brute and as a sanguinary murderer. Mr. Wigan, being a
clever actor of fops, shines forth as Tig ; Miss Fortescue is
gentle and amiable as Mary; while Mr. Vining has nothing
but walking gentleman's work to do in young Martin. We
must not forget a meritorious performer named Turner, who
plays Nadget, with an excellent conception of the sneaking
peculiarities of the spy, while he has a tendency to push the
eccentricities into caricature. There are no great deviations
from the story, but the scenes in America are omitted. The
grand stage effect of the piece is the view of London •bridge
wharf, with a built steamer, and a lighter that glides along
the water, and receives goods from a crane. This scene, with
all the attendant bustle, is very cleverly managed.

WILL OF THE LATE THOIIAS
CAMPBELL.

We have been favoured with a copy of the will of this dis-
tinguished poet, which we subjoin. The personal property,
we understand, bas been sworn under 2,0001., and will pro-
bably not realise more than 1,5001.
"This is the last will and testament of me, Thomas Camp-
bell, LL.D., now resident at No. 8, Victoria-square, in the
county of Middlesex.
" W hereas, under and by virtue of the will of Archibald
Macarthur Stewart, late of Ascog, deceased, my only son;
Thomas Telford Campbell, will, upon my decease, be entitled
to a certain sum of money, which I deem a competent provi-
sion for him.: I do not, therefore, intend to snake any provi-
sion for him by this my will.
" I give and bequeath the silver bowl, presented to me by
the students of Glasgow when I was Rector of that Univer-
sity, and the copy of the portrait of her Majesty Queen Vic-
toria, which was sent to me by the Queen herself (and which
two articles I reckon the jewels of my property), and also all
and every my manuscripts and copyrights of my composi-
tions, whether in prose or verse, and the vignettes which
have illustrated my poems, and also all and every my books,
prints,' pictures, furniture, plate, money, personal estate, and
effects whatsoever and wheresoever whereof I may die . pos -
sessed, after and subject to the payment of my just debts,
funeral and testamentary expenses, which I do direct to be
paid as soon as conveniently may be after my decease, unto
my niece, Mary Campbell, the daughter of my deceased
brother, Alexander Campbell, late of Glasgow, foi her own
sole and separate use and benefit.
"And Ido hereby appoint my staunch and inestimable
friend, Dr. William Beattie, of No. 6, Park-square, Regent's-
park, in the said county of Middlesex, and William Moxon,
of the Middle Temple, 'Esq., to be executors of this my will,
and also to act as guardians to my said son ; and I revoke
all former and other wills and testamentary dispositions by
me at'any time heretofore made, and declare t►.!s only to be
my last will and testament. In witness whereof I five here-
unto set my hand, the seventh day of November, 1842.
" THOMAS CAMPBELL.

" Signed, published, and declared by the testator, Thomas
Campbell, as and for his last will and testament, in the pre-
sence of us, present at the same time, who in his presence
and at his request have subscribed our names as witnesses,
" EDWARD CLIFFORD, 9, Ranelagh-grove, Pimlico.
" HENRY MORON, 67, Ebury-street, Eaton-square."

THE WAVERLEY BALL.—Last night this ball took
place at Willis's Rooms, and there were between 1,200 and
1,300 personages of rank and fashion present. We have
only time to observe that it was the mest superb public ball
ever given .in this metropolis. Owing to the late hour at
which our informant left the ball, we must defer until to-
morrow a more extended report of this magnificent fete.
DRUNKENNESS AND DEATH AT FAIRLOP FAIR.—
On Sunday evening, Harriet Milwood, a middle-aged female,
who wish her husband kept a large toy stall at Fairlop fair,
and who had been in the habit of going to different fairs to
follow the same occupation, drank to such excess as to be-
come much intoxicated. Her husband and herself had, in
consequence, some words, when the latter declared she would
stop on the ground no longer, and managed to get into a light
cart for the purpose of going home. When about to drive
away, her husband, who had suffered much from her conduct
during the evening, exclaimed with much fervour, " I wish
you may break your neck before you get home." The
wretched woman took no notice of the observation, nor did
she make any reply, but she had not driven away more than
two hundred yards when she tumbled out of the vehicle, and
falling with considerable force on her head, actually broke her
neck, and in a few moments was a corpse. Her body was
removed first to a booth on the ground, and afterwards to a
public-house in Barking side, to await a coroner's inquest.
FROST, WILLIAMS, AND JONES.—We have seen a
letter, dated Van Dieman's Land, Feb. 14, and addressed to
a party in this city, in which the writer, who has frequent
opportunities of hearing of these exiles, says they are all well
in health and spirits, and owing to recent alterations in the
convict system are now at liberty in the colony, and are con-
sequently free to dispose of their labour as they please.—
Bath Journal.

STEAM.—" Talk about your northern steam-boats,"
said a Mississippi4ireman the other day, "you haint had a
biler burst for five years. Don't require no spunk to navi-
gate them waters, any fool can do it ; but it takes a man,
stranger, to ride one of these here aligator boats head on to
a sawyer, high pressure and the valve soldered down, 600
passengers on board, and every soul endangered."—Halifax

paper.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.—The following
gentlemen have been elected Fellows of the Royal College of
Physicians :—Dr. Guy, of King's College, London ; Dr.
Conolly, of Hanwell ; Dr. Plenderleath, of ltamsgate; Dr.
Forbes, Dr. G. 0. Rees, Dr. Cursham, Dr. ltamsbotham, and
Dr. Hughes.
THE CONVICT DALMAS.—It is expected that the
removal of the convict will take place in the course of the
week to Bedlam, an order to that effect being daily expected at
llorsemonger-lane. Since the arrival of the reprieve on
Thursday last the convict has been exceedingly cheerful, but
has abstained from making the slightest allusion to the
dreadful crime of which he stands convicted. His daughters
have for the present discontinued their visits, and we believe,
through the influence of the reverend chaplain, and the kind-
ness of some friends, have been placed in respectable situa-
tions. The conduct of these young women has been praise-
worthy in the extreme, and has gained for them the pity and
esteem•of all those with whom they have come in contact
since the occurrence which threw them in an unprotected state
upon the world.
DEPLORABLE Loss OF LIFE AT BEAUFORT.—n
appears that the subterranean fire noticed in our two last
papers, continues to burn with unabated fury in the moun-
tain near Beaufort Works, and we have this week the melan-
choly duty of recording a loss of life occasioned by its effects.
The combustion of the Black Band and coal produced a quan-
tity of noxious vapour, principally composed of carbonic acid
gas, the destructive properties of which are so often the
occasion of death to parties incautiously descending into old
wells or brewers' vats ; and, as we stated last week, some of
the men and women working in the levels beneath the burn-
ing mass were then carried out insensible, and with difficulty
were recovered from the effects of inhaling the gas. But
on Monday last, results still more serious were ex-
perienced under the following circumstances :—About
half-past five o'clock on that morning, a master miner, named
William Tippen, went into his level for the purpose of coin 7
mencing the week's operation, and in half an hour was fol-
lowed by David Prosser and his two sons. Between ten and
eleven o'clock other miners went in and found the four un-
fortunate individuals lying on the ground quite dead, and the
party who brought out their bodies were nearly suffocated in
tke attempt. The surgeon of the works was in immediate
attendance, but found that life had fled some hours before.
The whole of the men employed in the Beaufort mines have
since abandoned their work, and traces of the gaseous exha-
lations from the fire are said to be perceptible even at.
Nantyglo underground works—distant a mile and a half.
The bodies of the four unfortunate men were interred on
Wednesday afternoon, at the Calvinistic Methodist burying
ground, afGwaingoch. There were not less than 3,000 per-
sons present on the melancholy occasion.— Silurian.
Loss OF LIFE THROUGH BoAT-nAcixo.—Yester-
day an inquiry took place before Mr. Carter, at the George,
Bankside, as to the death of William Brag, aged 34, who was
drowned through the enormous swell caused by the racing
and number of steamers now on the river. Mr. Smyth ob-
served that it was actually dangerous for merchants and
lightermen now on boardtheir craft, in consequence of the
swell the steamers caused by their rapid speed and close ap-
proach to the shore. He did not wonder this man had been
drowned, for, having, after the immersion, gone on board the
barge, he found the stern lifted at least three feet in the air.
The men could not work, and accidents were of daily occur-
rence. He had himself seen at least three tons of water
thrown into a barge by some of those steamers passing, and
he thought that some opinion should be expresked in their
verdict as to the conduct of the parties. The following
special verdict was then returned:—" That the deceased was
accidentally drowned by falling into the river, the jury being
of opinion' that it was caused by-the great swell caused by the
passage of the steam-boats."
MILITARY DISCIPLINE.—On Thursday week,
three privates, named Walker, Watson, and Young, belong-
ing to the first battalion of the Scots Fusileer Guards, at
present quartered in the Tower, were tried by a district
Court-martial on the charge of having, early en the morning
of Tuesday, the 18th ult. (the anniversary of the ever••me-
morable battle of- Waterloo), suddenly absented themselves
whilst doing duty on the main guard of the Royal Mint, St.
Katharine's dock, and remaining absent until apprehended,
nearly sixteen hours afterwards. They pleaded guilty, and
were re-conducted to their place of confinement, the Spur-
r gate guard-house. Next day (Friday) another private.
named Anderson, was also tried by a district Court-martial
for having been found intoxicated whilst doing duty as
sentry on the morning in question, whereby the others ef-
fected their escape. lie also confessed the charge, and was
sent back to the guard-house. The finding of the court-
niartial in both cases having been' transmitted to his Grace
the Duke of Wellington, Commander-in-Chief, was subse-
quently approved by his Grace, and on Saturday forenoon
last the guilty parties were brought from their place of con-
finement to hear the sentence of the Courts-martial read
over to them, on parade, by Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond,
the officer commanding the Ist battalion of Scots Fusilier
Guards, which was as follows :—" Walker, 12 months';
Watson and Young, 18 months'; and Anderson (the sentry),
two years' imprisonment." The prisoners, who are all young
men, were shortly afterwards handcufl'ed, and sent off, under
a military escort, to Coldbath-fields House of Correction.
On Saturday forenoon another private, named Brown, who
had been tried by a general Court-martial for absentinghim-
self from his barracks and striking a corporal whilst heading
a scout party in search of him at one of the fairs lately held
in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, was also brought
from his place of confinement to hear his sentence read over
to him by Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond, which was, that
lie be transported beyond the seas for the period of seven
years. • . _

A STRANGE FANCY.—The following ludicrous
circumstance took place in Falkirk last week. The parents
of a child about six years of age, on ordering him to bed,
were not a little nonplused by his answering, " no gaup
to my bed the. night, for I dreamed the 'streen that I was to
sit on a stick and sleep like a hen." Persuasions and threats
were all in vain, on a stick he would be; and, willing to
gratify what appeared to be a momentary notion, the parents,
in want of a proper back, proposed that the back of a chair
should serve for his roost during the night. No sooner said
than done, the child denuded himself of his clothe*, hung
them on the chair back, mounted his roost, and, in a few
minutes, to the surprise of all, was fast asleep. He was al-
lowed to remain thus for some time, and, on being awakened,
it was only by working:Cm his fears that he was ultimately
induced to relinquish the batch for a more comfortable nest:-.
Edinburgh .Evelting Test.