The Sun.
London, England, 1845-04-07 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Madame Anaide Castellan appeared here on Saturday
evening, as Ainina, in Le ,S'ommtnlmla. Her Amino, has
confirmed the favourable impression of her powers,
which was produced by her representation of Lucia.
The character of Amina on the Italian stage is like
that of Juliet on the English—the test of the abilities
of an aspirant, and, comparing Madame Aristide
Castellan with the greatest of her predecessors,
she is certainly entitled to high praise. Nothing
could be more perfect than the manner in which she
vocalised the part. Power, tone, flexibility, sweet-
ness, all were there. In accuracy of intonation,
Madame Anaile Ca-tellan is unrivalled—there was
not a single note out of tune. The finale was mag-
nificently given. Considered dramatically, it per-
haps lacked somewhat of the spirit of Persiini,
but, considered Trosienfle, it was infinitely superior
to ,inyql77,g tLIE, bas lorof for the I,,st
seasons. As a vecel effort it was perfect. Madame
Castellan has sstal,lished herself as a prima donna in
this country. In accuracy of intonation, for musical
tsste, and for science, she has no superior. She gives
undoubted promise of great histrionic excellence,
and when she becomes a little more user
to her audience, v..hich she will do in the
course of a short time, we doubt not but that
she will ov,,rcome that nervousness under which
she evidently labours, and which prevents her
doing full justice to her histrionic powers. She pos-
sesses immense genius, and the English dilettanti are
under great obligations to Mr. Lumley for having
introduced her to their notice. The subscribers,
under the old regime, complained that no fresh
talent was introduced. No such complaint will lie
against Mr. Lumley's management; he has intro-
duced to us Castellan, Mariani, and Fornasari.
Mario made his first appearance for the season in the
character of Elvino. He was in excellent voice, and
appeared in much better health than he did last
season. The House was crowded with fashionables.
Among those present we ebserved—Her Majesty,
Prince Albert, the Duchess of Kent, attended by the
Countess of Charlemant, the Earl of Hardwicke,
Countess Wratislaw, the Hon. Miss Hamilton, Col.
Arbuthnot and Col. Bouverie, the Duke and Duchess
of Cambridge, the Duke and Duchess of Mecklen-
burgh Strelitz, Princess Mary of Cambridge
(attended by Baron Knesebeck and Mr. Mild-
may). The Queen Dowager's box was occu-
pied by the Grand Duchess Stephanie of Baden,
Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, and party. The
Duchess of Hamilton, the Marquises of Douro,
Normanby, and Iluntly, the Marchionesses of
Douro and Normanby, the Marchioness Wellesley
and Miss M'Tavish, Baron and Baroness Brunnow,
Count Kondrioffsky, Count Noailles, Baron Koller,
Count and Countess Jarnac, Baron de Lagos, Baron
and Baroness Rothschild, Count Esterhazy, Lord
Chief Justice Doherty, the Earls of Liverpool,
Lonsdale, Shelburne, Cardigan, Falmouth, Munster,
Kilmaine, the Countess of Kilmaine, Lords Ernest
Bruce, Adolphus Fitzclarence, Lyndhurst, C.
Wellesley, Castlereagh, Somerton, Ranelagh,
Templetown, W. Beresford, Ladies Lynd-
hurst, Shawe Stewart, Charles Wellesley, Brougham,
Maynard, Easthope, Gardner, Joddrill, Pvnn, Moles-
worth, Sir 'William Fremantle, John Guest, John
Beckett, R. Virian, F. French, Charles Kent, Charles
Marshall, the Honourables Mr. Byng, Win. Booth
Gray, Colonel Cvvernlish, Ridley Colborne, Mr.
Carew, and Colonel Upton, Mrs. Colonel Fitch, Cap-
tain Cuddy, Captain Lyon, Mr. Montague Gore,
Mr. Barry Baldwin, Mrs. Mountjoy Marten, Miss
Howard, Major Henry Baring, Captain Rushout, &c.

CONSTITUTION OF JERSEY.
LET I ER 11.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR—In my last I gave you a faint—very faint—
sketch how the practice of our royal Court may be
made subservient to rendering a humane law of non-
effect to a debtor, albeit he may be justly entitled to
its protection ; it is not, therefore, likely to afford you
any surrise whef vco learn that where such demon
aihm cd, the afford the weans for the
practice is
perpetration with impunity of every species of fraud,
however gross, and that no injustice is too flagrant to
receive their •=anction. Some of the laws are, how-
ever, so intricate as to be scarcely understood even by
natives, except professional men ; and so various are
those which are made to hear upon the subject of
debtor and creditor, that it will be impossible for you
to understand me without first having a brief account
of them ; the business therefore of my second letter
must be to enable you to understand my third, in which
I will show you how these various laws are all made
conducive to one great end—viz., the perpetration of
every species of injustice and swindling.
A husband and wife can at any time enter into a
contract, by virtue of which their property becomes
divided between them.—This is called " separation
quant aux biens ;" by it, each becomes responsible in
future for their civil contracts, and neither party (or
their property) can be made liable for the debt of the
other ; strange as it may appear, all classes of society
avail themselves of it—hut you must bear in mind
that their position as man and wife is not affected in
any other respect. Permission to enter into this con-
tract is immediately granted by the Court, upon the
parties' application, and their stating they do it of
their own free- will and consent; it is afterwards
drawn up in due form and entered upon the records.
Permission can also be obtained in private before
the bailiff and two jurats, upon the payment of extra
fees.

When a man becomes a bankrupt, his estate is not
divided amongst his creditors, according to the
amount which he is indebted to them—as those only
have any participation in it, whose claims have been
established before the Court and are duly registered,
but these extend to all the real and personal property
of every description. The solicitor who is appointed
to conduct the "decret " (as it is termed) publishes
a notice (which is posted upon the door of the Court
and inserted for three successive Saturdays in the
French local papers), calling upon the creditors to
bring him the amount and description of their claims
by a specified day, in order that they may be en-
tered in a list of the bankrupt's liabilities ; those only
are inserted and considered as sworn creditors who
comply, and these are afterwards summoned to
appear for the adjudication of the property.
The list is formed backwards with respect
to the date when the debts were incurred, the
last being placed first, and so on ; it therefore ends
with the one of longest standing ; bills of exchange,
hook, and all unregistered debts are placed at the top,
without any regard to the time when they were con-
tracted, as they take the date of the day when the
schedule was ratified. With respect to bonds, they
bear the date of the day they were executed, if re-
gistered within ten days; but if, at a later period,
they bear the date of the day they were left at the
office of the registrar. When every formality has
been gone through, the whol of the property is ad-
judged in one lot to the first creditor on the list, who
must either accept it, or abandon his claim—if he ac-
cept it, he must satis'y in full all prior claimants—
t his, of course, 1:e cannot do; any more than the bank-
rupt could, as the estate is too much encumbered—he
is therefore oblimeJ to renounce his claim ; it is then
oifered to the next, :Lod so on, ti:l the estate is so fir
disencumbere.l, that one can be found willing to take
it upon such conditions. As any, or all creditors of
one date may become joint proprietors, those of pro-
perty amongst them are compelled, as a matter of
precaution, to abandon their claims rather than be-
come associated with persons who may soon perchance
become insolent themselves, as they would be subject
to serious and almost endless inconveniences, if a de-
cret should he issued against their co-partners. The
creditor who takes the estate is called the " tenant ;"
he receives the whole of it, subject only to being liable
to satisfy all prior claimants, and to pay the expenses
of working the decret ; those whose names, ice. were
not insert,.,: in the list, as well as those which were,
but whose claims were of a subsequent date, lose all
participation in the property—and all who renounced,
have to pay him the expenses of their summonses.
B. L.

AWFULLY SUDDEN DEATH.—On Saturday evening
last, about the hour of nine o'clock, the servant maid of
a gentleman residing at 112, Upper Stamford-street,
went for a pot of porter for the supper ; and having re-
turned, went down stairs, but before she could place the
pot on the table, she fell as if shot without a groan or
sigh. Her master was called, who, on seeing her, ran
to the Messrs. Brady, surgeons, Blackfriars-road, who
were in immediate attendance on the poor girl ; but be-
fore their arrival, she had expired. It is stated that the
father of this poor girl was taken up some few months
ago on suspicion of having bought some iron, which
was said to be stolen from the wharf of Sir John Rennie
in Holland-street ; and having been examined before a
magistrate, was remanded to Horsemonger-lane gaol for
two days ; but upon his re-examination, the magistrate
declared that he. the poor man, was perfectly innocent,
and that he left the court without a stain upon his cha-
racter. He returned home, and his neighbours gave
him a supper to testify their conviction of his innocence;
the pour man, at this instance of the kindness of his
neighbours, burst into tears and told them, that the
very accusation, independent of the imprisonment, had
broken his heart ; he pined, and in less than two months
after the occurrence, the grave closed over him and all
his troubles. How much the death of her father and

its attendant circumstances may have contributed to
hasten this poor girl's death we know not —we were told
that her attachment to her poor father was great. 1-1., r
body awaits an inquest.

A DRUNKARD; FATE.—Tuesday Mr. Baker held
an inquest at the London Hospital on the body of Edward
East, aged forty-nine. It appeared that on Friday morning,
deceased being dreadfully intoxicated, a little boy, between
five and six years of age, had run between his legs and
had thrown him down, when, slipping against the kerb-
stone, his leg was broken. He was immediately conveyed
to the above hospital. Mr. Cummins, the house-surgeon,
stated that deceased's right leg had been fractured. There
were no other injuries, but at the time he was brought in he
was in a helpless state of intoxication. Delirium tremens
subsequent F.
~upf4rvened, from which deceased diPd. From
Up 0, Li, s,l hi.: iw
struggled in a most violent manner, shouting fiercely
"Murder, and police," and he died strapped down to his
bed.—Verdict, "Natural death."