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

TnEA.Titt

Mademoiselle Maria, from the Academie toyal de Musique,
made a most successful debut at this theatre last evening, in
the new grand ballet of Les Danaides. This ballet is by far
the most magnificent that has yet been produced at this
theatre. The splendours even of the Pen shrink into Moir
tifficanee when toititiateid to it. With the story of the iiatialas
all our readers are doubtless familiar; we shall therefore con-
tent ourselves with detailing the manner in which that story
has been developed by M. Hoguet the composer of the
ballet. The curtain rises, and discovers the sleeping-room
of King Danaus, dimly lighted: It Is the eve of the nuptials
of his fifty daughters with the fifty sons of his brother
Egyptus. Danaus sleeps, but his sleep is disturbed by
dreams. Nemesis appears to him, and assures him that the
oracle has decreed that a son-in-law shall deprive him of his
crown and his.life. He awakes in agony: Mho'ats of joy are
heard in the distance, and his Minister enters to inform him
that they only await his approach to commence the nuptial
ceremonies. The next scene is a most magnificent one. It is
the port of Argos, with ships lying at anchor with various an-
tique temples in the distance. There is a grand nuptial pro-
cession of the fifty daughters of Danaus, and the fifty sons of
Egyptus with their attendants. The bridegrooms and their
brides kneel around the altar of Hymen, and pledge their mu-
tual vows of fidelity. The marriage gives occasion for the
introduction of a divertisement, introducing various pas.
First there is an Egyptian pas de deux by Monsieur and
Madame Finart, and the corps de ballet. This pas was very
beautifully given. Their poses in the adagio were ex-
ceedingly graceful, and in the allegro which followed them
were many variations which were executed with the greatest
precision and aplomb. They were much and deservedly
applauded, and we trust that we shall frequently have
an opportunity of seeing those very talented artistes.
This was succeeded by the grand pas of the ballet, the pas de
deux by Mademoiselle Maria and Mons, 11. Vestris. Made-
moiselle Maria Is very young, very pretty, and very grace..
ful, and her pantomime is exquisitely expressive. In the
opening adagio movement of the pas not only were the poses
most plcturqsqnely beautiful, artistically speaking, but her
pantomime was most expressive. She was the fond con-
fiding girl, giving up her whole soul to her husband, making
him the arbiter of her future destiny. The music quickens;
she is roused from her dreamy thoughts ; she bounds
joyously across the stage. She is happy, intensely happy,
and she dances in order to give vent, as it were, to her exu-
berant fbelings of joy. This movement Was beautifully
executed—the most difficult paswere given with a neatness,
a precision, a lightness, which left nothing to be desired.
She was rapturously applauded, and loudly encored. From
that moment Mademoiselle Maria became one of the especial
favorites of the British public. She was admirably sup-
ported by M. H. estria, who was also enthusiastically ap-
plauded. The next `scene is the subterranean temple of Ne-
mesis—Danaus assembles his fifty daughters, informing them
of the decree of • the oracle, and they all, except one,
swear to murder their husbands that night to prevent
its accomplishment. Hyperninestra (Madeirioiselie Maria)
refuses. She loves her; husband, and will not murder him.
Her father remonstrates in vain. She flies. He drags her
back, forces a dagger into her hand, and compels her to take
the oath which her sisters have taken. The acting of Made-
moiselle Maria in this trying scene was very fine and most
expressive. The second act opens with a grand festival in
the garders of Danaus. The Danaides ply their husbands
with wine, and the whole becomes a Bacchanalian festival.
The day closes, and they all retire from the
gardens. The next scene represents a corridor in the
Palace leading to the nuptial chamber of the Danaides.
Hypermnestra enters, and Lynceus comes in quest of his
bride. She Is sad, and seeks to avoid him. At length she
discloses to him the horrible intentions of her father and her
sisters. The signal of death is heard—Hypermnestra em-
braces him for the last time, and urges him to escape. He
does so, and the Danaides, accompanied by their father,
enter. Each Shows her bloody dagger. The dagger
of Hypermnestra is unstained. They rush on her and
are about to sacrifice her, when she is rescued from
their fury by Lynceus, who enters accompanied
by his soldiers. A thunderbolt falls, and strikes
the palace and Danaus, and his guilty daughters
are destroyed. The last scene represents Tartarus
and the punishment of the Danaides by the Furies. The
ballet is got up on the most magnificent scale. The scenery
is superb, and the processions most gorgeous. The music, by
Herr Schmidt, is exceedingly expressive and appropriate.
It is of a higher order than the generality of ballet music.
The success of the ballet was complete, and it will no doubt
have a long run. The house was crowded from the com-
mencement of the performances,

THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.

FROM VIE MoRNING pAFEF-8 OF THIS DAY,
._ ... _

TIMES.—We will confine ourselves to specific and practical pro-
positions. Parlianient is to be called on ffir the means of fresh pro-
tection to our commerce. Its immense increase, and the new and
formidable methods of attack to which it is liable, leave no alterna-
tive. It is a necessary item in the charges of that great speculation
to which our Welfare is committed. To fortify a capital is the caprice
or the boast of a soldier; to fortify our harbours, the wisdom of a
merchant. Of all our natural advantages, it is our harbours, per-
haps, that most make England. Ireland is again the Ministerial
difficulty, and again do her religious and political animosities pene-
trate to the very heart and core of the State, and distract its most
secret counsels. The Charitable Bequests Act has so far succeeded
as to divide faction and conciliate opponents, transferring to
the adverse ranks the angry feud they had previously waged
with the State. This fair show of success has encouraged the
Minister to go on as he has begun, and propose without more
delay what probably was only waiting for time and occasion. So
not a few days of the session will be spent in considering " the
policy of improving and extending the opportunities for academical
education in Ireland." Under this very guarded announcement, we
are to understand two colleges at Cork and Belfast, as a substitute
for opening Trinity College to the more popular creed of Ireland.
Whether these schools are designed to be open to all or not, the re-
sults of the national plan of education leave it probable that Roman
Catholic admission will be tantamount to Protestant exclusion.
But the Premier has unquestionable axioms of government on his
side. Ignorance must be taught ; rudeness must be relined ;
a paternal State must supply these necessities ; yet it can-
not enforce conscience, or make a State creed the con-
dition of those kindly offices which it has undertaken to
render unto all. The report of the Irish Landlord and Tenant Com-
mission is nearly ready. Nothing more than the report, and that not
yet 1 The remission of the income and property tax is to be weighed
in the Legislative balance against the various boons which the con-
tinuance of that tax might purchase for us. It is clear that the
Minister will not easily resign five millions a year, laid with unjust
equality on the property of the wealthy and the income of the in-
dustrious. The present tax has been levied with a dexterity which
exempts it from some of the ill qualities of its predecessor ; but
neither length of time nor prosperity of circumstances will ever re-
concile Englishmen to a tax which is still in its nature inquisitorial,
and still lies with unequal force on industry and every other tempo-
rary form of wealth. Discriminate between the two principles of the
tax confessed in its title, though strangely confounded in its enact-
ments, and it may be made not less just than bearable.
CHRONICLE.—Had we the power or the wish to dictate to our po-
litical opponents a royal speech, that would be the most complete ex-
posure at once of their pretensions and their feebleness, we should cer-
tainly select no other paragraphs or phrases than those spoken yester-
day. The only liberty we should take would be to collocate them
somewhat differently. To the paragraph congratulating Parliament
upon the "increased activity of every branch of manufacture, with
trade and commerce extended, and the general state of domestic
prosperity," we should tack the conclusion of the " continuance of
the income-tax ;" and as a sequitur to " the prospects of continued
peace," we sheuld place " the necessity of augmenting the naval esti-
mates." Two paragraphs in the Speech are jubilations on the
fact of visits paid to our Sovereign by the heads of two of the greatest
States in Europe, of those States on whose policy and tone of feeling
the peace of Europe certainly depends. Yet ere these words of glad-
ness, and these assurances of peace have died away, we are saluted
with the necessities of continuing a war-tax, and of opening a new',
source of war expenditure We are not prepared to say that the
latter is needless, or that a Government which will not open or widen
the sources of indirect taxation, must not have recourse to the more
onerous system of direct levies. We are not inclined to cedstlre the
tuariter in mode, et fortiter in re of accepting and returning ther }curt
compliments of foreign potentates,,whilst we arm in mistrust of them ;
but we do say, that this is in flagrant contradiction of the vaunts.ad
pretences of the Tories. Make light of it, or veil it, as we will, it' is
impossible to deny that we now look to the struggle of parties and the
debates of the French Chamber with an interest irreconcileable
with the supposition that peace has been firmly secured. Four years
of Lord Aberdeen's anodynes have not lulled the restless spirit of our
neighbours. And we know not, under the present system, what hope
to conceive or cling to of the rancour against us being abated. The
references to domestic politics in the Speech are few, and not less un-
satisfactory. Of a dozen paragraphs six are occupied with Ireland,
and those six say but little. The intimation that Sir Robert Peel is
about to lay his hands on the banks of Scotland and Ireland will create
more alarm than surprise. That he would do or attempt something
was to be expected, after what passed last year. , The vague para-
graph in the Speech only converts this expectation into assurance.
We shall make no remark upon the subject at present, further than
this, that the announcement just made will create very considerable
excitement amongst the commercial classes, both in Scotland and
Ireland, by suggesting the possible abolition of one-pound notes. In
justice to those classes, Sir Robert Peel ought not to let a single day
pass unnecessarily before giving a full explanation of his intentions.
HERALD.—The character of vagueness and inanity, the common
reproach of royal addresses, certainly cannot be applied to the
Speech delivered yesterday by her Majesty. A document more clear
and precise, or more full of matter, has rarely appeared. s The diffi-
culty in remarking upon it is not the usual one—the inability to
catch a definite topic ; the task is to choose from an abundance of
subjects, all laid down with equal distinctness, and all of nearly equal
importance. There is no question that has lately excited a public
interest which is not noticed, and noticed in a way to give universal
satisfaction.

ADVERTISER.—Our anticipations respecting the character of the
Queen's Speech have proved, in the main, correct. On the great ques-
tion of the day, the question of free trade, it maintains an unbroken
silence. There is not a sentence in the royal address which can cause
one qualm of alarm in the breasts of the landed oligarchy, or which
can inspire the most slender hope in the minds of the free-traders.
But let no one conclude, because her Majesty's Speech does not,
directly or by implication, give the slightest countenance to anti-
monopoly principles, that !the free-traders are without hope.
There could be no greater or more grievous mistake.
The free-traders are full of hope. Theirs is a confi-
dence, amounting to a moral certainty, that ere long they
will triumph over the combined hosts of monopoly. So, it seems,
after all, that the Minister has determined on extending his currency
crotchets to Ireland and Scotland. The announcement will create
astonishment in Ireland. In that country any remodelling of their
currency must have been unexpected. Scotland will not be equally
taken by surprise, having been menaced last session with the assimi-
lation of its currency to that of England. But though, in this
sense, the announcement of the Ministerial determination to anni•
hilate the small notes in Scotland, will not excite so much surprise
In that country as the announcement regarding Ireland will
do in it, there is a sense in which both the amazement
slid the ffirllgnatibil Will be Of a far deeper kind in
Scotland than in Ireland. And we predict that beibre Scotland is
done with Sir Robert, she will make him hear, as the homely phrase
says, on both sides of the head. There is no part of the Queen'e
Speech which gives us so much pleasure as that which refers to the
intended adoption of measures fbr Improving the sanitary condition
of large towns, ThiS IS a subject On which We have written much
at various times ; and it was but the other day that we earnestly
pressed it on the attention of the session of Parliament now com-
menced. We hope the contemplated measures will be sufficiently
comprehensive to meet the exigencies of the case.