The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-03 00:00:00

duties of the office. He' lamented the absence of
the Lord Mayor from the entertainment: A similar i
occurrence took place last year. • There was, however,
a. great advantage resulting from the obligation upon
the Sheriffs to preside at their own inauguration
dinrer, for their friends were supplied with the oppor-
tunity of witnessing their talents and exertion, as had '
been the case last year, when Alderman Magnay and
Mr. Rogers afforded such undeniable evidence of
their qualifications for the office which they had so
honourably and admirably 'filled.—(Loud cheers.)
The Cursitor Baron had taken .a cursory survey
of the conduct of the Aldermen, hot fortunate:y
left the Sheriffs for him. It was with the greatest
satisfaction he bore testimony to the exertions of the
Sheriffs of last year, and he entertained no doubt that
at the end of the present Shrievalty the two gentlemen
at the head of the table would receive that which was
everything to them—the applause of their fellow-citi-
zens, supported and confirmed by their own con-
sciences. (The toast was drank most enthusiastically.)
Sheriff HOOPER begged to assure the company that
it was a deep source of gratification to him to see so
many valued and influential friends assembled around
him and his excellent colleague. He could on his
own part declare that it was not without much
thought and reflection he had entered upon the
onerous and important ditties of the office he had now
the honour to hold, and although he was sensible he
could not bring the talent and fitness for the office.
which many of his predecessors possessed, still as far
as honesty and integrity of purpose, and an anxious
desire to do right are concerned, the utmost reliance
might be placed upon him, and encouraged 'and sup 7
ported as he knew he should be by many- kin&exceli'
lent friends, he trusted that at the end of his year of
office he should not be undeserving of the thanks of
his fellow-citizens.—(Loud cheers.)
Sheriff PILC IiER returned his heartfelt thanks for
the honour done hint, and he hoped frequently
to see those around him at the convivial board.
(Cheers.) He trusted that he' and his worthy
colleague would pass through the office with
credit to themselves. He was aware that there
were duties connected with it of an unpleasant nature,
connected, as it was, with the exercise of authority in .
places in which many of their unfortunate fellow-
creatures were under restraint for the violation of the
laws. They were aware, too, of the necessity of
adopting a mode of strict discipline. To the perform-
ance of their duties they would bring a determined
spirit ; but like the two excellent officers whom they
succeeded, they would lean to mercy in answering
the calls of justice.—(Cheers.)
Mr. Sheriff HOOPER declared that he felt peculiar
pleasure in proposing the health of " The Recorder of
London." The talents and the merits of the Learned
Recorder were too well known to require to be then
dwelt upon, but it was impossible to pass by without
observation the fact, that in addition to his other high
attributes and qualifications, the Hon. Mr. Law was
universally acknowledged to be as humane a Judge
as ever did honour to the' Beneh.--(Cheers.)
The RECORDER said he felt most grateful for the
terms in which his health had been proposed, and the
kind reception with which it had been met. He was
aware that a more delicate subject could, not be
entered upon, especially. by him, than that of the
merits of the performance of judicial duties.' So
delicate was the topic, that he could not even allude
to it without feeling to a certain, extent over-
powered.—(Cheers.) It had been his hapiiiness to
fill situations in the. Corporation of London tor a
period of nearly twenty yearS, and the selection of
him, made at a time when 'he was struggling for 'inde-
pendence, entitled those to whom
,he °tired- his clef..
vation to his most sincere- and heartfelt`gratitude.'
He had never failed to consider, in performing the
functions of his office, not only the course of his duty,
but the honour of those to whom he owed his appoint -
ment.—(Cheers.) lle had filled the offices of Counsel,
Common Sergeant, and Recorder of London, and had
thus the happiness of testifying. in his own instance
the effect of the elective franchise of the Corporation
of London in raising an humble individual to the
highest dignity in the gift of any municipal power. If
he gave satisfaction to the-public by the performance
of his serious and important duties, he waS.overpaid
for the labour and anxiety to which those duties sub-
jected him. He appreciated the kind notice which
had been taken of him, and if he was not disposed to
enlarge upon the subject, it was in consequence of the
sense of delicacy to which he had before, adverted.
He had ever exerted himself to perform the duties of
the situation, not with the view of eliciting popular
applause; but for the purpose of benefiting the public
by the pure administration of justice, tempered with
mercy.—(Loud cheers.) His great object was to
arrive at truth; and to accompany the exercise
of discrimination with humanity in the cases
of unhappy persons brought before a, tribunal,
which after all was not infallible. Ire suf-
fered no human being to be convicted without
law.—(Loud Cheers.) In the course of the perform
ance of his duties as a Judge,, it was usual With him
to consult with the highest characters on the Bench,
and he found existing uniformly amongst them; the
desire by which he was always prompted, of adminis-
tering justice with mercy.—(Cheers.) After having
'alluded to the privileges possessed by the Corporation
of London in the election of their own Sheriff, the
Recorder, and his Honourable Friend (the Cursitor
Baron) had spoken of the advocacy of the rights and
privileges of the citizens of London in. the House of
Commons ; now he could boldly aver that he pursued,
and would continue to pursue, in Parliament, the
same course by which his conduct as Recorder of Lon-
don had been marked. Deeply connected as he was
with the Conservative Government, nothing on earth
should induce him to raises his voice, or apply his vote,
against the liberty of the subject, 'interwoven as that
great principle was with the fearless maintenance of
public justice—(Cheers)-and he should never hesi-
tate to uphold the Constitution, as by law established,
against what was called the privilege of Parliament.
Sheriff PILC HER proposed the healths of "Alderman
Magnay and Mr.-Rogers, the two past Sheriffs." The
zeal, talent, activity, and assiduity of these gentle-
men, were the theme of public eulogium, and the. pre-
sent Sheriffs were happy in having such an immediate
example before them, 'although to follow the example, •
and not to sink in the cOniparison would be matter of ,
great difficulty. The' Livery had already enthusias-
tically pronounced upon the conduct of the late She-
riffs, and the company would add their testimony.
Alderman' LUCAS here rose, and requested' to be al-
lowed to•say ni few words upon the 'toast.' He could
not help bearing testimony to the admirable conduct
of the late-Sheriffs—his most excellent and able friend
Alderman Magnay and Mr. Rogers. No man-could
more properly estimate the merits and exertions of
the•late Sheriffs than the Aldermen of London, who •
were in the unceasing habit of witnessing the labours
of those functionaries; and there was not a member of
the Court of Aldermen who did not feel deeply in-
debted to Alderman Magnay and Mr. Rogers for the
whole course of conduct pursued by them.—(Cheers.)
Alderman MAGNAY expressed his sincere thanks for
the. honour done him. Ile had undertaken the office
of Sheriff with a full knowledge of the unpalatable
nature of some of the duties which he was to be called
upon to perform. He had performed all the duties
faithfully and conscientiously, and the only ambition
he felt was completely gratified by the honest appro-
bation of his fellow-citizens.—(Cheers.)
Mr. ROGERS returned thanks, and alluded to the
birth of the 'Prince of Wales, and other happy events
which had occurred, to add distinction to the late
Shrievalty.—(Cheers.)
Sheriff HOOPER proposed " the Members of the
City of London." The Sheriffs had,' he 'said, been ho-
•noured that day with the. company of M. Master-
man and Mr. Lyall. The devotion of time to the dis-
charge of the duties of Parliament, and allithe sacri-
fice of quiet, domestic comforts, entitled these gentle-
men to the best thanks of their constituents:

Mr. MASTERMAN, M.P.; returned thanks; 'He as-
sured the company that no man felt more strongly than
he felt, the .neceSsity of sustaining the privileges of
the City of London, and he declared his readiness at all
times to render all the aid in his power to the more
able advocates of these privileges, if any -atteinpt
should be made to invade them.—(Cheers.) 'He did
not consider it wise to make professions, and should
merely say that he should upon all occasions act con-
scientiously, and he knew that sort of proceeding would
recommend him to his felhow-citizens.—(Cheers.)
The Master of the Vintners' Company and the Alas:
ter of the Haberdashers' Company severally returned
thanks for the Companies to which they belong;
Under- Sheriff Hardwicke and Under-Sheriff l'ilCher,
to whom great praise was due for the admirable ar-
rangement; and management of the business of the
day, received the warmest thanks of the company.
The dinner and wines were of the first quality, and
the company was delighted with some splendid singing
by Messrs. Jolly, Horncastle, Fitzwilliam, Young, and
9. Atkins, and. Masters Sutch and Ball.

FIRE AT SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE.—Thursday,
about nine o'clock, a fire broke out in the property-
room of Sadler's Wells Theatre, which for a time
threatened destruction to the whole building. It
being a benefit night, the house was crowded to ex-
cess in every part, and the greatest confusion pre-
vailed on the audience discovering the cause of the
dense smoke which issued from the stage, The
actors, supernumeraries, and the property-men, ex-
erted themselves to their utmost, and to..their un-
ceasing exertions in procuring water, is to be ascribed
the safety of the theatre. As it is; property to the
amount of. between 801. and 1001. has been destroyed.
The fire was completely extinguished in about half
fin hour, and the performance proceeded. On inquiry
we learn that the fire originated in the following
manner :—Harvey, the property-man, in supplying a
boy with a torch, incautiously went too near the blue
and red fires and other fireworks, upon which a spark
from the torch dropped, and the room was immediately
enveloped inflames, The fire was happily confined to
he room in which it originated

f ..

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

This theatre re-opened for the season on Saturday
evening, with Shakspeare's comedy of As You Like
It; previously to which the company sang the "Na-,
tional Anthem." The appearance of Rosalind, in the
second scene, introduced the heroine in the ',person of
Mrs. Nisbett, after an absence from this stage of six
years. Warmly greeted at her entree, the audience,
no less brilliant than full, was soon attuned to a.plea-
surable humour. To fall in. lOve, but neither in
earnest, nor too much in sport, is the delightful liason,
formed between herself. and Celia (Mrs. Stirling).
But this harmless mean soon finds itself vain of ob-
servance; and when the wrestling-ring is • pitched,
and the match at the Duke's Court ensues, Orlando
(Mr. Anderson), who conquers, enlists both the
sympathies and love of Rosalind wholly in his behalf.
His manliness and nobility of manner at once win
her, and love is lit up in her bosom, not like a slow
taper, but like the sudden lightning. Of the banish-
ment of both from Fredericks, the Usurper's court,
it is unnecessary to relate ; or of the diverse:routes
by which they reciprocally' arrive in the broad
woods of Arden. But no longer in her flowing satin,
Rosalind, compatibly with the projects of her heart,
and the roughness of her future life and journey, has
assumed the habiliments of a man. She adopts a
" swashing and martial outside ;" the curtle-axe sets
trimly to her thigh, and the fine symmetry of the
woman shows handsomely in hose and tunic. Here
the play widens. The entire scenes now range in the
forest of Flanders. The Ducal outlaws from the
Court there uphold, with their retainers, a serene and
unchartered liberty—the greenwood and its caves
their homes, and the sides of the deer their food .for
banquet. - But the salt of wisdom also seasons their
society, and the melancholy Jaques ,makes .his ab-
stract comments on the world and its weary ways. Mr.
Macready personated this difficult character--;diffi-
cult, because there exists a depth of thought in it,
which only the penetration of the scholar and the-refined
judgment of the gentleman can enter into or perceive;
and he has lavished' study on it in its nicest points, as
we saw in his preservation of one of Sir Thomas
Hanmer's most minute readings, and other passages.
Luxuriously laid at length in the forest, we first be-
hold him "sucking melancholy out of a song," and
feeding his museful disposition on a sylvan warble;
next he flung out his spleen against the world in a
verse of his own sarcasm, afia'flieii quitted company
to rail against. "all the first-born of Egypt." Merrily,
-but vet shaded with sadness, he recounted his meeting
with the "fool i' the forest;" averred that motley was
the only wear; waxed impatient to assume the suit ;
and then relapsed into that fine soliloquy expatiative
on the world, its stage, and players. Grave and de-
corous in its delivery, the dignity of the sentimenta-
liser never descended to mimickry iii this piece of
oratory, though the whistle of the "childish treble"
was distinctly enough heard, and appropriative action
and 'enunciation characterised it throughout. But
Orlando and Rosalind—the representatives of love—
one, in its manly and impassioned form—the other,
deep as woman's soul, but gushing forth in all the
exuberant vivacities of a spring-like, dulcified exist-
ence. Mrs. Nisbett sparkled with spirit from the first
act to the final fifth. A glistening liveliness- was
perpetually in her eye and movement. Strategist as
she shows herself to be in the management of her
disguised love, the delusive dazzle she throws about
Orlando is nevertheless marked by sincerity and deep
affection. Meanwhile, Orlando hangs upon tree and
brake his rhymed praises of her beauty, and in court.
ing her under the assumed soubriquet of Ganymede,

unconsciously wooes his real mistress, every moment
drinking light from her eyes and passion from her pp.
Then ensues the clever denouement, which unravels
the plot. Men and maidens come in with profuse
rose-garlands : a bowery temple is constructed of
their wreaths; and in the presence of all, Hymen, in
his saffron vest, and with his consecrative torch, knits
the long-parted lovers together, Rosalind having re-
sumed the becoming attire of her virtue, modesty,
and beauty. Among the episodes which occur, the
dry and caustic humour of Mr. and Mrs. Keeley as
Touchstone and Audrey created much laughter, and
the enactment was felicitous. Mr. Anderson's Or-

Lando, marked bymasterly bearing throughout,
showed to much advantage in that scene wherein he
demands food for his dying servant,• Adam (Mr.
Phelps) ; and Mr. Hudson as Le Beau, the exquisite,
was brisk, spirited{ and clever. The sceneries were
of a superior,cast ; and the last, representing a stately
forest arcade, 'brilliantly effective. The songs were
ordinarily good ; the best executed being "It was a
lover and his lass," in which Miss P. Horton joined.
The house testified its pleasure rather by attentive..
ness than vehement applause, in accordance with the
thoughtful and sententious nature of the play. Mrs.
Nisbott delivered the epilogue in her most fascinating
manner, and was loudly called for at the fall of the
curtain, re-appearing with Mr. Macready. The en-
tertainments closed with the humorous
farce of the
last season, entitled The Attic Story, which, with the
comictilities of Gabriel Paddy (Keeley),
and the in-
trigues arising out of the masquerading, propensitie3
of half a dozen fashionables, produces many amusing
points, and provokes considerable mirth. The house
was excessively full.

CO VENT•GARDEN THEATRE.
Rossini's opera of Semiramide was produced at
this theatre on Saturday in a style of splendour, mag-
nificence, and completeness, su
assin even the
achievements of the Vestris managementg . The part
of Semiramide was sustained. by Miss Adelaide
Kemble, and that of Arsace by Mrs. Alfred Shaw,
her first appearance on the English stage. Many of
rp
our readers will doubtless recollect Mrs. Alfred Shaw
as Miss Postans, one of our most favourite concert
singers. She has spent the last two or three years
in Germany and Italy, assiduously cultivating her
musical talents by studying and: practising.,operatic
music, and she has been latterly singing at most of
the principal theatres in Italy. Of the esteem in
which her musical talents are held by the profession
on the ,Continent, the following anecdote furnishes
gratifying proof. Previous to the concert season
•before : the last a well known German professor was
asked by some parties connected with the Phil-
harmonic concerts who were the- most celebrated
female singers in Germany ? " The two most accom-
plished- female singers in Germany at
moment, are Mrs. Alfred Shaw and Miss Clara
Novelle," was the. professor's • reply. Such is
the lady who last- night made her debut
on the English stage with all the success that her
most ardent admirers could have anticipated. Her
figure is tall and well proportioned ; ,she has a pleasing
expression of countenance; and her action is graceful
and appropriate. Of the compass of her voice we had
no means of judging, for Arsaee is a contra-alto part;
the upper notes of her voice were consequently not
called into requisition. As a contra-alto singer, how •
ever, she stands alone ; she possesses the rich and
reedy tones which constitute the great beauty of that
quality of voice in even greater perfection than Al-
hertazzi. Her voice has all the clearness of Madame
Vestris, joined to the full rich mellowness of Miss
Love's, and in distinctnes3 of enunciation she is un-
rivalled. Superior even to Brehm in thin respect,
the enunciation of Mrs. Alfred Shaw, in even the most
rapid passages, is infinitely more distinct than is that
'of some of the best declaimers on the stage. Her
voice is completely' under command, and it possesses
that flexibility which can be acquired only by assi-
duous practice: Her openin6 recitative, and the
beautiful cavatina by which it is followed, seemed to.
take the audience quite. by surprise. She was
listened to with breathless delight, and at the con-
clusion was greeted With plaudits loud and long-
continued. From that moment she had achieved her
position, anti we hail her appearance on the English
stage as an earnest- that . the days are at length ap-
proaching, when we may have an English opera (for,
as yet, with the kieeption of Artaxerxes, we have no
work deserving the name), and that the regeneration
of the musical drama in this country, so happily
begun by. Miss Adelaide Kemble, will not be retarded
by that lady's' early retirement from her 'profession.
Miss Adelaide. Kemble has added to her triumphs by
her Serniramide. Her conception of the part is su-
perior to Grisi's. She was, indeed, the Queen, To
the impassioned 'intensity of a Malibran she joins the'
majestic dignity of a Siddons. In the magnificent
seena, "Arsace will return," in the first act, she
burst forth in her full strength and splendour,
and: at the conclusion of the act, when the
shade of Ninus appears, never were the horrors of
conscience-stricken guilt more appallingly depicted
than they were by Miss Adelaide liemble.
She reminded us forcibly of Pasta in this scene. The
second act opens with a duet between. Semiramide
and Assur (Mr. Giubilei), which was given with im-
mense power and effect, and was loudly applauded.
Then followed the most beautiful morceau of the
opera, the duet. " Oh, day of Honour" (the " Giorno
d oviore" of the 'ltalian version), by Miss Adelaide
Kemble and Mrs. Alfred Shaw. 'Frequently as we
have heard this exquisite duet, with a perfect recol-
lection of Malibran and Pisaroni, and of Grisi and
Brambilla, we have no hesitation in saying that we
never heard it to such perfection as on Saturday
evening. In fact, we cannot imagine anything siipe-
riorto it ; it may be equalled, it cannot be surpassed,
for it was perfect. It is needless to say that there
was an unanimous call for its repetition, which wv,2 of
course complied with. This was the Qnly encore of
the evening. The concluding trio in the tomb of
Ninus was beautifully given by Miss A. Kemble; Mrs,,
A. Shaw, and Mr. Guibelei, and the piece concluded
with one of the most extraordinary scenic effects ever:
exhibited. Immediately that the shade of•Ninus him
been appeased by the sacrifice Of his rnurderers,'S.:,'
miramide and Assur the tomb sinks, and the Grind
Place in front of 'Palace, with the City of Babylon
and. the tower of Belus in the distance, is discovered,
and the stage is tilled with warriors, captives, priests,
Sce., 1016 hail Arsace as their Sovereign.. On the fall
of the curtain Miss Adelaide Kern-hie and Mrs. Alfred
Shaw were called for, and were led on, the former by
Mr. Conper, and the latter by mt. Giubilei. Bouquets

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