The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-02 00:00:00

LYCEUM THEATRE.

A comedy (we use play-bill phraseology), in two acts,
under the title of Our Piew Governess, was produced
here last evening ; it is said to be from the pen of Mr.
Brooks, the author of the Lowther Arcade. The plot is
simple enough, turning upon the efforts of a Chevalier
d'lndustrie, and two unwilling associates, to impose upon
and rob a simple-hearted old man, who has become sud-
denly possessed of wealth. The dialogue, although
somewhat dull in the first act, was fully redeemed by the
fun and fullness of punning in the last, some of the latter
being smart hits at the popular topics of the day, and,
being given with full gusto by the actors, told amazingly.
Mrs. Keeley, who plays a sort of petticoat Dr. O'Toole
(Irish Tutor), was, as usual, the life of the piece. The
only novelty in the character played by Keeley was the
extreme absurdity of his grief, who, under the persuasion
of having passed a forged note, is made the tool or vic-
tim of the swindler to conceal his imaginary crime ; it is
scarcely necessary to say that he played with his usual
drollery. Wigan displayed his accustomed nonchalance
in the part of Fitz-Duval, a gentleman about town ; F.
Mathews gave full effect in the part of the simple and
suddenly elevated tradesman. Stanton, who was the
lover of the piece, played with gentlemanly ease and
propriety ; a little more self-reliance and spirit will be
sure to make him a valuable actor. Mrs. Cato Biggs (a
sort of dramatic Mrs. Caudle) was admirably acted by
Mrs. Woollidge ; nor must we forget noticing a pleasant
hit at Malthusian theories and utilitarianism in the per-
son of an old maid, performed with much point by Mrs.
A. Wigan. The piece was highly successful.

THE MAGAZINES.

COLBURIV'S IVEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.

"An Excursion up the Oronooka and Ramble
through Venezuela" forms the most interesting
feature in the present nnmber. The manners and
customs of the inhabitants, the appearance of the
country, and the character of General Paez are well
described. Paez was the son of a cattle-farmer, and
distinguished himself, from his youth, by skill and
activity in every manly exercise. He could throw
the lasso, fling the wild bull, or tame the unbroken
horse with any of his followers ; and his popular man-
ners, his bravery and spirit, gained him the confi-
dence of the patriots at the commencement of the war
of independence. By his indomitable perseverance
and conspicuous bravery he raised himself to the head
of a party, in opposition to Bolivar, and brought
about the separation from the triple republic, and main-
tained his position at the head of the republic of
Venezuela, even when reduced to the rank of a pri-
vate citizen. He is said to be the richest man but
one in Venezuela, and his liberality and expenses are
equal to his riches. One of the great instruments
of his success was the formidable light cavalry which
he raised in the vast savannahs with which the
country abounds. It may be interesting to the
reader, therefore, to learn how this cavalry was
raised. Perhaps nowhere, says the traveller, except
among the Cossacks, did fitter materials for a formi-
dable light cavalry exist, than among the llanos of
Apure, Casanare, and Varinas, and adds—
" Frugal, hardy, and active, the llanero mounted upon
a horse, to whom the same epithets might well be applied,
unencumbered by any other clothing than a shirt, a pair
of drawers, and a straw hat or handkerchief bound round
his head, provided with a small bundle of tasajo or dried
meat for sustenance, and armed with a lance and blun-
derbuss, was fully equipped for an expedition of any eon-
tinuance.

"At that period vast herds of horses wandered over
the savannahs ; these were driven in when a re-mount
was required, and then ensued one of the most charac-
teristic scenes of llano campaigning. Each man singling.
out his new horse, and flinging him with his lasso,
mounted, broke, and equipped his acquisition as he could.
The plain would be covered with horsemen struggling
with their horses, while the officers upon horses already
broke were stationed at intervals, not to succour those
who were thrown, but to prevent the horses from escap-
ing into the savannahs with the saddles and bridles, the
former frequently only of straw. It may be imagined
with what celerity, compared with the heavy cavalry of
Spain to which they were opposed, this guerilla horse
could act, and to this rude efficiency, together with the
craft and perseverance of their leader, the success of the
republican arms in the Mines, when defeated elsewhere,
is to be mainly ascribed."

The fourth article, on " Passages in the Lives of
Celebrated Statesmen," is confined almost entirely to
Prince Metternich. It is on the whole respectable,
but fails to give a graphic description, or any very
remarkable insight into the character of that ex-
traordinary personage. " Nothing," says the writer,
" can exceed the contempt of Metternich for the up-
start politicians of the day, and the revolutions which
have taken place in Italy, Piedmont, and the Penin-
sula," of which the following anecdotes may be given
as a sample, though we can hardly believe that a man
celebrated for his politeness would be so rude :
" When the present King of Portugal, who was pre-
viously a lieutenant in the Austrian service, was married
to Donna Maria, his father came to announce the event
to the Austrian Chancellor, who had not been officially
informed of the young officer's departure for Lisbon. I
am happy,' observed the Prince, to hear of your son's
promotion and marriage ; but I hope he got the formal
consent of his colonel. (In Austria, and generally in
Germany, young officers cannot marry without the eon..
sent of their commanding officer.)"
The following particulars of the Bokhara victims,
evidently founded on the pamphlet f Captain Grover,
may surprise some readers. It is certainly new to us
that Colonel Stoddart was so utterly unfitted for a
mission requiring great tact and discretion :
" We detect in this ardent volume one very surprising
contradiction ; but we can readily comprehend that it
springs from an over-anxious desire to sift every possible
aspect of the case by every possible means. In one place
Captain Grover says that the King of Bokhara is not
to blame—that he discredited Stoddart's story, because
Stoddart could not ptoduce the necessary credentials to
verify it—that he waited, at Stoddart's request, three
months, for the arrival of letters which shculd authenti-
cate his mission—that he even established post-houses as
far as the frontier to expedite their arrival--but that the
letters not coming, the King was confirmed in his belief
that Stoddart was a spy. Stoddart, in fact, was de-
serted by his Government, and given up to his doom ; a
sort of justification, such as it is, of the vengeance of the
Ameer. But, in another place, Captain Grover denounces
the King as a horrible tyrant, says that he is considered
by his subjects as a madman, and urges the necessity of
marching a force into Bokhara to punish this insane
Ameer, and the Ameer alone. Both views cannot be cor-
rect. The truth seems to be this—that the Ameer,
raging for the lives of our countrymen, withheld his
bloody fingers only as long as his fears of English inter-
ference lasted, and murdered his prisoners the moment
he became convinced that there was nothing to dread
from the English Government.
" We have not touched upon the policy of the mission
itself. A worse man for so embarrassing a position than
poor Stoddart could scarcely have been chosen. But
that was not his fault. Ire seems to have brought to the
discharge of his functions an impetuosity of temper
better calculated for the direction of a storming party
in the mouth of a breach, than for the delicate and dan-
gerous duties of an embassy. Many men, however, have
been placed in similar circumstances, with still slenderer
qualifications. But in the history of the world, no man
ever expiated such faults by so awful a penalty."

DOUGLAS JERROLD'S SHILLING MAGA-
ZINE

Jerrold comes out this month in great force. The
interest in the " History of St. Giles and St.
James " increases as the story progresses. In the
present Number it is in some instances painfully in-
tense. It will be in the recollection of our readers
that the last chapter concluded with the conviction of
young St. Giles for horse stealing. The first chapter
of the present Number opens with the following
striking passage :
" GUILTY—DEATH I_

" What familiar syllables were these in the good old
times—the time of our history! In those happier days,
how many goods and chattels, live stock and dead, were
protected, watched by Death! Death was made by law
the guardian of all things. Prime agent, great con-
servator of social security—grim keeper of the world's
moveables. Death, a shepherd, avenged the wrongs of
stolen mutton; Death stood behind every counter, pro-
tector of chapman's stock; Death was the day and night
guard of the highway traveller against the highway
thief : Death watched ox and ass; the goose on the
common, the hen on the roost. Even at the altar, Death
took his cautious stand, that Hymen might not be scot-led
and defrauded by wicked bigamist. De minitnis eurabat
Mors. Turn where he would, the rogues path was dug
with graves. Nevertheless, the world grew no better;
made no visible return to that happy state, ere hemp was
made a sovereign remedy for wrong. And so by de-
grees Death lost somewhat of his reputation with the
members of :he world; and by degrves many things
were taken out of his charge. It was found that—sheep
were stolen—tradesmen's goods lifted—pockets piCked
hen-roosts forced, and maids wickedly married by men