Star.
London, England, 1831-08-03 00:00:00

HAYMARKET THEATRE.

Between the Farces of The Padlock and Hipls Life below
Stairs a new Comedy of superior pretensions, entitled
Madam du Barry ; or a Glance at a Court, the work of
the ever-successful Poot.z, was acted for the first time. It
is of French origin, but has been Anglicised with much
more of talent than has of late been exercised on similar
works, and its great merit is that in the acting It appears
as though it was originally conceived and written for the
English stage. The language is throughout good, and in
many instances first-rate in elegance and point. The plot,
which we shall describe more fully in a second notice, turns
on the intrigues of the Court of Louis XV. and brings m-
minently forward the celebrated Madame du Barry. The
part of Leiria was sensibly acted by H. Wau.aex, and
the other principal characters by COOPER, BRIRDAL,
and :Wessxxs, the former of whom contributed not a
little to the general effect of the piece. Miss TaYLos
personated Madame du Barry. and although her perform. 1
sore was not free from those blemishes which we have'
en previous occasions regretted in our notices of her, her con.
option and execution of so difficult a part was highly:credit-
able. Mrs. Ashton imparted all that interest to the thane-
ter of Florins which was necessary to its proper effect. We
have seldom seen her to more advantage. The acting in ge-
neral, added to the high merits of the piece as to its con-
struction and writing, was such as to render it, though but
little aided by clap-trap illusions to passing events, and
still less by the telling breadth of farce, completely success
ful throughout the three acts.

ARRIVAL of Her MAJESTY DONNA MARIA.
The ex-Emperor and Empress of Brazil, accom-
panied by Donna Maria, arrived at the Clarendon
Hotel, Old Bond street, about ten minutes put five
yesterday afternoon, from the Continent. The
Royal cortege comprised four carriages and four,
containing, exclusive of Don Pedro, the ex-Em-
press, and the young Queen, the Marquis de Re-
zende, Major Webster, M. Gomez e Silva, and se-
veral Ladies in Waiting. The Royal party
were conveyed from Cherbourg to Portsmouth
by his Majesty's steam-vessel Lightning, which
had been placed the disc ' the - •Emperor

at . :posal of
Orders having arrived to receive Donna Maria
with the honours due to a crowned head, prepara-
tions were accordingly made at Portsmouth for her
reception; and, on the appearance of the Lightning,
salutes were fired from the ships at Spithead,
and, on the steamer passing them, they manned
yards, which compliment was acknowledged by
the Lightning. Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, the
Port Admiral, and his lady, were awaiting the ar-
rival of her Majesty, and on landing she was
saluted with 21 guns from the garrison. A guard
of honour from the Royal Marine Artillery was also
in attendance, and the baud of the same corps re-
ceived the royal party playing the National Anthem.
Major-General Sir Colin Campbell, the Cowman-
j der-in-chief also waited on the young Queen, in
order to congratulate her on her arrival. Her Ma-
jesty, accompanied by her royal parent and step.
mother, having entered the Admiral and General's
carriages, drove up the High-street, the troops, con-
sisting of the royal marine artillery, and the 90th
and 91st regiments, who were on either side of the
street, presenting arms. Her Majesty wa3 received
at the George Inn by a guard and band of the 90th
regiment. The troops, having formed in open
columns, led by Sir C. Campbell and staff, marched
by the George Inn in slow time, with bands play-
ing and colours flying. The troops then marched
borne, and the principal families of distinction io
the town and vicinity subsequently paid their res-
pects to the youthful monarch. They departed
from Portsmouth at 11 o'Clock yesterday morning,
and proceeded to the metropolis at the rapid rate
of 12 miles an hour. The Royal party, on alight-
ing at the Clarendon, were received by Mr. Chap-
' lin, the proprietor, who conducted them to a splen-
jdid suit of apartments which had been prepared
for their reception. Donna Maria has grown so
considerably since she quitted her tranquil abode
at Laleham, in 1829, that, although she has not
yet completed her thirteenth year, she has the
appearance of having attained the age of eighteen.
The ex-Empress, who is about twelve years
younger than her illustrious husband, is extremely
graceful and prepossessing. It is said that she con-
verses fluently in French and English ; in the
course of three or four months it is expected that
her Majesty will present Don Pedro with a pledge
of their mutual affection. Don Pedro, who it is
derstood intends to fix his residence in England, at
least for the present, has engaged an establishment
of English servants, exclusive of his ex-Majesty's
foreign attendants. The arrival of the royal party
was announced to Viscount Palmerston within half
an hour after they alighted at the Clarendon.
Smart work at the Kilkenny assizes ! Two per-
sons, in the rank of gentlemen, are tried for a con-
spiracy to compel a parson to lower his tithes. The
prosecution is one instituted by the Attorney-
General. The traversers are Catholics. The jury
are Protestants exclusively. The traversers are
convicted; and for the conspiracy to induce the
parson to lower his tithes, the judge (Johnson)
sentences them to twelve months' imprisonment,
and a fine of 501. each. Smart work this ! -Morn-
ing Register.

~•

WEYMOUTH ELECTION.
State of the poll, eighth day, Monday, August t, at two
o'clock :

Mr. Baring Wall ..
Mr. Prendergast l6O

Majority for Mr. Wall
Mr. Prendergast left at two o'clock this morning. The
poll will close at three this afternoon, and Wall be
im-
mediately chaired.
SPIRIT 07 THE JoUR7VALS.
TIMES.—Last night " the bill" made some progress
through the committee, though its pace was slow, and its
march interrupted. Tomes* and Sudbury, which had en.
joyed a respite of two days beyond their companions in ache.
dole B, were finally consigned to their proper class—the
latter after a useless division. The wbole of the boroughs in
schedule B, as well as those in schedule A, ate now disposed
of; and the anti.reformers, like unwilling scholars, have
been carried forward to the third letter of the reform alphabet.
We heard some days ago of the Paganinis of the house harp.
ing upon one string, and occupying the time of Parliament
and of the country with lens agreeable notes than those of
their Italian namesake. Some of them may have read of a
celebrated ancient musician, who was as great in his day as
Paganini is in ours, and whose movements we expect them
to imitate. Of this celebrated ancient Paganini "it is said
Sr sung"—

mmtommg.. Slope velut qui
Carrebat fugiens hostan ; persape velut qui
" AMODIO sacra ferret
—The processional march, with the sacra Junonis, or, in
other words, the funeral procession of the rotten boroughs,
has been slow if not solemn enough : let us now hope that
our great parliamentary artists will indulge in their more
rapid paces, in their emerging caprice. If we could expect any
consistent system for such pertpns, we should be entitled
to calculate on this result. They resisted the total or
partial disfranchisement of the condemned boroughs,
because they considered this part of the bill
as an infliction of pains and penalties, "or a
corporation robbery," or something else equally alarm.
bug to the ingaghsatioe ; but they have now a more
cheerful and safe task. They have now not to take away
privileges, but to give them—not to perpetrate a robbery,
but to confer a favour. Last night the house entered on this
more grateful duty, and enfranchised 3of our great manufac-
turing towns—Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds, which,
on any sound principle of representation, ought long ago to
have sent members to Parliament, possessing, as they do,
more wealth, population, and industry, than all the hundred
and odd places in the two schedules, over which the borough.
mongers have made such doleful lamentations.
HERALD—The anxious interest which the Duke of
Wellington and his political friends appear to take in the
fate of Portugal would do them great credit if they were ac-
tuated by the generous motive of a faithful adherence to an
"ancient ally" in adversity; but surely the Noble Duke and
his partisans must presume upon a very gross degree of stu-
pidity or ignorance in the people of this country to make it
possible for them to mistake the interests of the usurper
for those of the nation on whose sights he tramples, and
to confound the claims of Don Miguel with the cause of
Portugal. There is no doubt that Portugal is one of
the most ancient allies of this country, if not the most faithful.
Before the era of Cromwell our commerce and connection
enjoyed certain privileges from the Government of that State,
by the grace and favour of its Kings. In the Protectorate
of Cromwell our alliance with Portugal was more closely
drawn, and the commercial advantages which we enjoyed
more accurately defined by the treaty into which that great
politician and successful negotiator entered with John IV.
subsequently the marriage of Charles 11. with the Infants
Catherine, by which the Crown of England first became pos-
sessed of Bombay in the East Indies, made the connection
still more intimate; and the treaty of Queen Anne with Pedro
11, by which mutual advantages were stipulated on each
side—on the one for British woollens, and on the other for
Portuguese wines, completed the connection which bad sub-
sisted with but very little interruption to the moment when
Don Miguel, in violation of his solemn oath, and of every
principle of morality and justice. overturned the Coostitu.
tion which be had pledged himself to protect, and stole the
diadem which had been placed with him in trust. If that
Constitution bad remained unsubverted, and the Crown of
Portugal bad been placed upon the brows to which it right.
fully belonged, we ask if the Duke of Wellington, the Earl
of Aberdeen, and others of that class of Statesmen,
would have expressed the same tender sympathies
which they now affect to feel for the fate of Por-
tugal, or allude, in the language of pathetic interest,
to our treaties with our " ancient ally ?"
HERALD.—We have some reason to believe that the
Ministers are more than half-convinced that their proposed
alteration in the duty on Cape wines will not adds shilling to
the revenue. For our part, we are quite satisfied that so far
from the change, if carried into effect, adding to the re-
venue, it will produce the opposite effect. We assert this
without any reference to the ruin which it will bring about
in the colony, and the consequent falling off of the co-
lonial taxes. Upon this subject the South stlfriean observes
that, " to enable the farmer to bear up against the pro.
posed alterations, taxes to the amount of 30,0001. or
40,0001. must be remitted. Since England cannot afford to
protect our staple commodity, she must be content to re-
ceive a smaller price for her human exports. We can no
more afford to pay so high a premium on the importation of
labeurers, to the great discouragement of the native produce
of the colony. The salaries of governors, secretaries, dolts,
judges, and all other labourers imported from the mother
country, must be reduced in the sante ratio as the duties on
our wines are raised ; and, if this deteriorate the quality of
the article, we must contrive to grow at home. If minis-
ters cut up our trade, they must look somewhere else for the
exercise of their patronage. Then, for the means of defence,
we must have an open Council, where the real state of
the country shall be honestly declared and held before
the eyes of the public, its resources explained, and the voice
of the people listened to and obeyed. No country can bear
to be repeatedly ruined. li'e have had quite enough of ruin
since 1806; but what security have we, or can we have, in
the present state of our institutions,that we may not be ruined
as often as we have any thing to lose ? Is it not a wild and
monstrous thing to see the necessity of reducing the salaries
of public servants as the colony grows larger and more po.
pulous? The last Governor, for instance, drew 10,0001. for
about twelve years. Surely, had this been a reasonable sum,
and had the colony prospered as it might have done during
that period, it would not have been necessary to bring down
this particular salary to 7,0001. But it was found to be an um
reasonable sum ; and now, year after year, we discover that we
are less and less able to meet even this reduced demand ;
and, when 11133 shall come, we shall find that even half of
thus sum will be more than we can well afford. Unfortu-
nately, the government and the people are at present utter
strangers to each other. Every step we have made since 1823
has been openly or covertly resisted by the Government of
the day. We maintain that the present foono of Government
is opposed to reason end common sense; that it neither does,
no can, work favourably to the colony ; that free institutions
are essential not only to our well-being, but to our very ex-
istence; and that the first thing we should demand from the
new mini-try is polit era! freedom' We perftctly agree with
these observations ; and we hope and trust that the ministry of
Lord Grey will not only give free ingtitutions to the Cape colts-
Lists, but that it will abandon the proposed tax on their wines.
—We alluded yesterday to the Report of " the Cape Com-
mercial Both," and recommended it to the serious antztiod
of his 3lajisty's Ministers ; and we now bug to call the
attention of 'Members of Parliament to this document.—We
have only room for a short extract. ;peaking of the pro
pond duty on Cape wine, the " Report" points out the
" injustice and inhumanity of destroying so extensive a
branch of colonial industry as the growing of this wine, as
well as the inconsistency of putting this colony out of the
pale of the general system of protection granted to all the
rest of the possessions of Great Britain. So long as the
sugars of the West Indies and the Mauritius are admitted
at Vs. per cwt. whilst foreign pay fits; Jamaica Rum at
9s. per gallon. when foreign spirits pay 11. 2s. ; coffee,
lid. per lb. foreign, Is. to Is. 3d. there can be no just reason
for excluding protection to Cape wine."

Mr. Green's a balloon r r scen e at five minutes
T'lT
past five on Monday afternoon, in the parish of
Charlwood, 29 miles from London, on a field
called the Eight Acres, in the occupation of Mr.
Morley. Mr. Green and his companion were
received in the most hospitable manner by the
worthy rector of the parish, the Rev. S. Porter,
who kindly furnished horses to convey Mr. Green
and his companion, Mr. Richard Crawshay, who,
Mr. Green states, showed greater confidence and
self-possession than any of his previous compa-
nions, to the King's Head, at Horky, on the
Brighton road, front whence the aeronauts pro-
ceeded yesterday morning for London.

i~r,~-,

DISTRESS IN IRELAND.