The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-03 00:00:00

STRAND THEATRE.

The Shaksperians have taken this theatre for six
performances, and they commenced their campaign last
evening with the Merchant of Venice, Mr. Gregory ap-
pearing as Shylock. Now, considering that Mr. Gregory
was for years the avowed editor of the Satirist news-
paper, and remembering, moreover, that his appearance,
two years since, at Covent-garden, in the character of
Hamlet, was rendered memorable by a row, which has
not been equalled since the 0. P. riots, it was to have
been expected that his appearance at the Strand would
have given rise to great opposition. The house
was crowded long before the commencement of the
play, and the appearance of Mr. Gregory as Shylock
was the signal for a burst of groans, hisses, and all sorts
of unseemly noises ; these were immediately drowned
in a most enthusiastic burst of cheering, and it was
evident from that moment that the supporters of Mr.
Gregory were in the majority. The minority, however,
instead of gracefully succumbing after making their pro-
test, chose to interrupt the performance, and a cry was
raised of " Turn them out," which we* responded to
verbatim et 'iterating, and sundry of the most noisy of
the dissentients were ejected vi et armis. The play was
suffered to proceed tolerably quietly until the scene be-
tween Shylock and Tubal, when the dissentients made a
desperate rally. They were, however, again outvoted,
and an ejectment by summary process having been
served upon some half dozen of them, the play pro-
ceeded to the end without interruption. At the conclu-
sion Mr. Gregory was called for, and was received
with three cheers, so that, as faithful reporters, we
feel bound to state that his supporters complete',
drowned his opponents. And now as to Mr. Gregory,!
right to claim the homage which is due to onewno
capable of supporting the first range of Shak9e
rian
without
cha-
racters. Looking at his Shylock of last night
prejudice—considering it as the Shylocknot of Mr.
Gregory, but of Mr. Smith, or of Mr.
.at it was the
Any-body-else.
w
fresh from the provinces
—eshould say that
for years. Modelled
most promising debut we bad seen
upon the Shylock of
Edmund.
Kean (and where could an
actor find a better model !), it was yet not a ser-
vile imitation. It was evident that the actor had
just conception
a
of his part, although, like all
young actors, he was rather too much intent upon
making points than upon infusing into the character
that unity which is the distinguishing characteristic of a
perfect artist. Time and practice would make Mr.
Gregory a first-rate actor; and as it is, we know not
where, even among professional artists we should find a
better Shylock—Macready's Shylock is inferior to it in
conception, and Charles Kean's is not equal to it in
power. With regard to the other characters, all that
we will say of them is, that they were supported by
amateug s.

EXTENSIVE ROBBERY OF RAILWAY SHARES.-
Yesterday information was received by the police that be-
tween ten and eleven o'clock, on the night of Saturday last,
as Mr. Richard Avery, of No. 5, Parbon-place, Walworth,
was crossing the road from the Alfred's Head to the Elephant
and Castle, his coat-pocket was picked of no fewer than 695
railway and other shares. The robbery is supposed to have
been committed by two women, of mean appearance, who
walked behind Mr. Avery.