The Sun.
London, England, 1827-11-13 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

The tragedy of Macbeth introduced Mr. Macready,
here last night for the first time since his.returnfrom
America. He was received with the warmest ac-
clamations from all parts of •the house, which, how-
ever, he returned with somewhat more stateliness
than beseemed the occasion. There is one pOint
about this gentleman's acting which at once stamps
its degree of excellence. He cannot play Shakspeare,
ergo, he wants.mind: • By mind, we do not so much
mean that every-day quality, by -which. performers
of, respectable' pretensions 'to taste and judg-
ment are enabled to pourtray the ordinary charac-
ters- of life; but that far higher faculty whiCh
at once, from a Certain instinctive sympathy,
(without which knowledge is'eOld and labour super-
fluouS), seizes on the strong points of a. Prospero, a
Macbeth, a Hamlet, a Lear7—or ,to descend. in the
scale of intellect--rof a Richard III.,• Posthumus,
or an Othello, and identifies itself -so firmly with
them, that to recall the one is but to conjure up the
image of the other. Mr. Macready has none of this
superior faculty : his name is associated with no
Shaksperian recollections ; we do not speak of his
Coriolanus (which he attempted some years since,
and failed in), or even of his Othello in the
same strong spirit, whereby We identify John
Kemble with the one, and Kean with the other;
we recollect him merely as the.. representative of
Virginius, and this rather because he was first in the
part, than from any extraordinary splendour of intel-
leet that he flung around it. His Macbeth of last
night has fully confirmed the justice of these few pre-
liminary remarks. It wanted the poetic elevation
with which Shakspeare has.invested it. It gave but
a glimmering insight into the alternate fine sensibility
—fierce. desperation—moody spleen=and frantic am-
bition bf Macbeth; but rendered him instead, from
first to last, a mere common minded despot and
murderer. This may be Mr. Macready's estimate of
the character, but most assuredly it is not that
which the world entertains of the " Royal. Thane,"
in whom humanity (for it should be borne in mind.
'that 'Shakspeare's most. revolting characters, even
MaSter Barnardine himself, have strong claims on.
our sympathies), philosophy, and a high chivalrous
sensibility, Were strangely blended with the oppo-
site extremes. Mr. Macready acted Macbeth. as his
friend Mr. Sheridan Knowles would have written it.
—need we add that it was a failure ? T
o de-
tail minute foibles, where the general out-
line was deficient, might appear invidious.—
We cannot, however, refrain' 'from expressing
our surprise that the fine apostrophe to sleep,
" sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of care"
should have been given by Mr. Macready in' a roar
worthy. of a Tower gun. Macbeth, it; should be
remembered, at that 'precise period, was: just reco-
vering from the wild excitement produced by his first
murder : he was both physically mid mentally, ex-
hausted.;itirely, then, he would not have invoked
sleep as Falstaff called the waiter, with a bellow ?
Mr. Macready'S positions were equally peculiar. In
the famous banquet scene, for instance, he threw
himself into •an attitude evidently • of trans-atlantic
origin, for nothing in the slightest degree approach-
ing to it was ever yet seen in European nature ; how
he balanced himself during so desperate a defiance of
equilibrium is, and must ever remain, a mystery to all
but himself. Mrs. West's Lads Macbeth was, like this
Lady's other performances—respectable.' We heard
a Gentleman (who smelt powerfully 'of cheese)
just two boxes off us, say, that it was equal to Mrs.
Siddons ; he , became in consequence an object.of
considerable curiosity to us, throughout the remainder
of the evening: The' house at half-price was well
attended.

JERSEY, NOv. Gaspee, YIBERT,
arrived to-day from Rio Janeiro, sailed the 24th of Sept:
She brings advice that a few days before 6,000 troops em-
barked un board Brazilian ships.of war for Rio.Grande.

The Undaunted frigate, Captain AUG USTUS
ClaFro an, C. B. , is expected to leave Chatham this day for
Spithead, to embark Lord W. BENT' NCR, Governor-
ral of India. • • • • •

NEW YORK, OCT. 13.—The British ship
Valorous arrived at this port yesterday froin Kingston,
Jamaica, via Havannah. •

It was understood on Saturday that two line-
of-battle ships (the Ocean and another) were to proceed
from Portmouth to reinforce Sir EIVD. CODRINGTON. It
appears, however, that such is not to be case : Ministers
probably consider, :that after the decisive conduct of the
gallant officer, he does not stand in need of assistance, more
especially as he must ere this haie been joined by Sir THOS.
STAINES, in the /sir.

It is a curious fact, which, we believe, has not
previously been noticed, th at on the death of the present
King of SARDINIA; should h e die without issue, the Duke
d'AltaoutEme will be the legiti tnate .heir of. the house of
,STUART ; awl, like the other unfortunate branches of this
family, who were buried in St. Pete r's, in ;Rome, will re-
cord amongst his titles " King of England."--Times.

BARCELONA, Nov. I.—From the arrange-
ments lately made, relative to the French troops in gar-
rison here, nothing like an idea of their departure. seems to
be entertained. The garrison at present is thus composed—
the Ist Light Infantry, the 10th, 16th, 29th, and 41st
Regiments of the Line, a Regiment of Cavalry, and a
Regiment of Lancers; in all 7,000 men.
BARBADOES, SEI'T. IS.—(From an anony-
Mous Correspondent.)---7Lieutenant Was. JACKSON, of his
Majesty's 25th Regiment, was fined by the laws of Bar-
badoeS SOL for taking prisoner a free coloured man, armed
With a musket and fixed bayonet, in a riotous mob, on the
night of sth July. The Lientenant was affording,protee-
tion to the cargo of a vessel wrecked on that coast, and
though shamefully ill-treated, be amply succeeded in saving
the most valuable part of it. The Agent for Lloyd's has
refunded him the whole sum.

Yesterday, the LORD LIEUTENANT enter-
tained the LORD CHANCELLOR, the Judges, and several
Members of the Bar, at
.dinner, at the Vice-Regal Lodge
in the Park. Sir W3l. M‘Manow, Master of the Rolls,
had been invited, but we understand declined going, in
consequence of the misunderstanding subsisting between him
and the LORD CHANCELLOR.—DubIin Evening Post.

Upon the swearing in of a new Lord Chan
eellor in Ireland, it is usual for the Master of the Rolls to
be in attendance, and assisting at the ceremony. Upon
the arrival of Sir ANTHONY- HART in Dublin, a King's
Messenger was dispatched to the country seat of the Master,
with an official letter, intimating the day upon which Sir
ANTHONY was to he sworn in, and requesting his, (the
Master's), attendance. The On dit has it, that upon his
Honour's opening the despatch, and throwing a glance at it
hie handed it back open to the Messenger, desiring him to re-
tarn it to the person who sent him, and to desire that a let-
ter might be sent him that he could read ! As a matter of
curse Sir Was. WMAHON did not attend.—... Dublin Even-
ism Post.

ANECDOTE.,—When Dr. JOHNSON courted
Mrs. PORTER, whom be afterwards married, he told her,
".that be was of mean extraction ; that he had no. money ;
and that he bad an uncle hanged !" The lady, by the way
of reducing herself to an equality with the Doctor, replied,
a that she had no more money than himself ; and that
though she had not a relation hanged, she had fifty who
deserved hanging." And this accomplished this very
curious amour.—Elgin Courier.

SUSPICious DEATH.—Throughout yester-
day and Sunday, a very considerable excitement has pre •
vaned in the neighbourhood of Little Saffron-hill, in conse-
qUence of the sudden death of the wife of a tradesman,
named HARVEY, occupying No. 11. For along time past
the deceased and her husband were in the habit of quarrel-
ling, which quarrels generally terminated in her being se-
verely beaten. On two occasions last week, the neigh-
bours were alarmed by her screams, and went to her as-
sistence ; she bad then been pushed or had fallen down
stairs, and during Friday complained of being ill. On
Saturday morning she was found dead in her bed; and the
report then became prevalent that she had been murdered
by her husband. This rumour gaining ground, reached
the ears of the parish authorities, who after making the
necessary inquiries, considered it proper that the facts
should be investigated by a Coroner's Jury, and a notifica-
tion to that effect was yesterday evening transmitted to the
Coroner, THOMAS STIRLING, Esq. The Inquest will. be
4111 this evelln•