The Sun. — London, England, 1845-03-25 00:00:00

ADVANTAGES OF RAILROADS. „ . ITERATURE. TEE ALMUM ; or, MU SE UM OF A.-1 /0.1 A/. ANTIQUITES. Ed:t d 6, - 7110.11 AS liI(A7 , Correspowli,v 11, tithe (I . t.'ce .t!( ? f F a,:ce. Tlt,. - 111 11:t ludo, iv!, W. Farla).l. ES.A. b This is a h oo k i n w id e ' ) the liannatyne and the 4 t (l3 thurgn Clubs would have delighted ; printed in a quarto size, on the very finest p per, with the most I'4utifully clear type, and profusely illustrated by . , e xquisit e copper - p l ate engrav i ngs an d magn ifi cent il 'u'ainations—publigted, moreover, in an ornamental cove r r—it has al:ogetlur a very aristocratical appear- There is an excilent paper in the present entitled "history of Art in the Midd!e T A b g . es , as exhibited in Illuminated Manuscripts.” l s Piper i 3 profusely illustrated by woodcut en eavings fro m anc i en t ill um i na ti ons . F ro m a p a p er 011 obsolete punishments we extract the following ace "tint of the last recerd':d instance in which the ru nithment of ducking was inflicted on a scold by sentence of the law Nearly all town account durin the sixteentcen- ter n and the commencement s g of the seventeen th contain catri , es relating to these implemi nts of punishment. The Practice of ducking continued through the whole of the d"tcPrith century, and the name, now no longer un c2tood in its originsl form, began to be changed from I n i ng-stcol to ducking-stool. Instances of this l);llishtnent being put in practice occur as late as the rldille of the last century. In Brand's Popular An an extract is given from a London newspaper k th e year 1745, stating that last week a woman that ~.eePs the Qmen's Head alehouse at Kingston, in Surrey, bboaaccordingly ordered by the Court to be ducked for scolding, and oI accordingly placed in the chair, and ducked in the ofofN Thames, under Kingn.bridge, in the presence or three thousand popoe.' The guilty individual Pears to have been often carried to the place of punish- I C" in proces s ion by the mob. Our readers will re d, e mber th e d escr i pt i on o f suc h a process i on i n Hudi tr,ttC Which makes the subject of one of Hogarth's illus stions of that poem?, t tIR WORLD OF LONDON.—A .NEW SERIES. Fisher Murray is already favourably known the public by his paFers on London, which ap -1,14f1 from time to time in Blackwood. Mr. arr ay is a shr e wd observer, and descants on men d . B t . mariners in a bold, sarcastic, quaint style, whic h tr o l s w lc eedinglv amusing. Take the following on the tr of Parliament, as an example : Le:•'°roething awful is there in cuutemplating in imae ton the p ower o f P a rli am ent. "list corner of the mar or remote world is not, or dejd l i l° t been, at one time or another, influenced by its .•,, e rations ' its orations, its enactments ? itt rer e hat class or denomination of men does not , mighty power extend ? t et i;f 4 t)thing is too large for the grasp of its long hand, la ba ir l too little. Sceptres it wrenches from the Dy n e of kings, and seizes picky ckets by the collar. Se4• 4Bl ies are by its might overthrown, and stalls of aldg e oarian applewomen ; princes it binds in chains, tti" et oitneipates the quadrupedal captives of the dog di sends firth havoc and desolation over i t „ lot lands, and at home forbiddeth little boys to play aw Upon the pavement ; it changeth whatever it ey k o~and whenever it listeth changeth what it bath t bringeth in an Act to amend an Act, and an Act ItiZ°l3et (1 the amendment, and maketh an Act to explain pwsing all understanding ! taketh t h e crown f rom t h e h ea d o f one m an, and th it upon the head of another ; and maketh every e3 "year allegiance to the same. t,ehan ge th its religion, enacting that everybody t t believ e t h at i t b a th c h ange d, no t from false to true, toek true to false, but from true to true ; and thatevery -64 ' d o th no t so b e li eve , or pretend to believe, it 4' ll ll in thei r lives, liberties, and properties. L ood;'• Piltteth at will its hand into the pocket of every ,tahing therefrom gold and silver, nor disdaining ni s l' e jling everybody that this it doeth for his protec -141:17ng everybody submits, and bath no remedy. It A k c'eth in its sleeve, and cajoleth, and coaxeth, and Wroth with everybody ; it giveth anybody leave upon everybody, and enacteth that anybody who ' t itt "1, i iing upon everybody may live ho v they can ; a `et n h ' anybody to be everybody, and everybody to „ t itti s lt ,b,abbleth for six months in the year, more loqua '4otit,l,`",to fish-retailing fag of Billingsgate ; and al tDjtnif pretendeth to speak in a whisper, yet is indig 'ts.talk be not retailed next morning over all the Wh i , 4 eginn e th w h a t it ca ll e th its business wh e n men ` 4 ei Ln ess are asleep. It babbleth droningly through t ttl •"g hours of night, and the short hours of morning, S t e• t h to bed when it bath levied enough taxes ; the ,Nt1„ 111 general th e n getteth up, to slave, and strive, igh t -t uggle to pay the taxes, and iaboureth all day, till 4 1)14 t ' hen Parliament getteth up, goeth to the House, tl-"" and levieth more and more taxes ; and this e`o eternally, a machine of perpetual tax-motion I" Murray, however, can be serious when occa i;equires and many of his reflections show . that si th roPt i t deep thinker, a philosopher, and a philan , „e 4 ; 3 ‘• After describing the miserable abodes of ~`it;"salls in the metropolis, and expressing a wish, N' a Pital, now so superabundant, could be directed fo r i, t ,da the classes, of the dwellings of the n g he proceeds :- 1 4 .1 4 1'l ln iess a man is either wealthy or a pauper, no Asti a 4 - wen to give him a decent abode ; bumble in -11„190,,'1,111, ItY hide its head where it can ; as long as it is t i.,"°g* order we take no heed of it ; but the minute ;'Nah'itooralized, or depauperized, we have the most 41 e model-prisons to correct it, and the most beautie 41°4 lock it • ' jr WorkhouLes to up in. }: t) )Ze r P°or working-man cannot afford to pay 201. t i t is impossible fur him to get a comfortable toy h),Stid then, it will be in the outskirts, at a distance can afford to cover an op business, where builders Gk e ground with decent cottages ; but no man N o ,' making his fortune by building in the heart of .b . :4' : d eoellt cottages, one on the top of another." .14.• is one of the best books that has been pub- L ti London just such a book as Washing ; icli‘t-n L g !night have produced on the subject , in ' e q °l 4 When he wrote " Salmagundi." All persons ti lberld to make the great metropolis their place e i should not only read but study it. t6 s 4 B , ' S FIRESIDE LIBRARY.— PETER "00`,,k . 31111L, THE S fIADOWLESS MAN. 11'4i 4 ; 14 MISSO. fir, 41 ,a reprint of the history of the renowned Ol t „, W un sold his shadow to a certain mysterious -al l in Grey, and found the want of it ever after %Pip' 4 ' 'll., T he present edition is illustrated with some et,Wend-ents. From the Appendix by the pre '`°rextract the following account of the ti t p h , . ` it nees which induced Chamisso to write this tt t , ' T e tal e •„t cl e ,,, (l Nin of Peter Schlemihl is to be ascribed in a 4,:le e w ' r e to circumstances that occurred in the life V 4 11 1 ,, -ri ter. Daring the eventful year of 1813, Movement bre out which ultimately freed hiLfroin the )oke of her oppre , sor, and precipt lkikieouiov!nfal, Chamisso was in Berlin. E . very one 14 1 wield a swor d h as t ene d then to employit on tt l h„ Germany and of the good cause. Charriesso had 4: l l ,tte;„, t ;laowerful arm, but a heart also of truly Ger ; and yet he was placed in a situation so !'eti e l i t ' s to isolate him among millions. As he was h e Parentage, the question was, not merely whe he s hould fight on behalf of Germany, but also whe liiihNl!'°uld fight against the people with whom he !1,,t,' fl e eted by the ties of blood and family relation `l,Zol,„"ee arose a struggle in his breast. I, and I , forbidden at this juncture to wield a sword ! l i ti ,t l t 4 ,l, frequently his exclamation ; and instead of Zdh s) mpathy on account of his peculiar situa c,i44l4 "„as frequently doomed to hear, in the capital of 1 1, 4 e ) , 1 ,e head-quarters of the confederation against 1 4 ' i ts 4 c ti q Napo!e - en, expressions of hatred and scorn e l ' t ttl)l„ a gainat his countrymen. He was himself too Yp e ,' t o mistake the cause of such expressions, which I ltZthi t ' e tlY natural under the circumstances, but they I ri e ta deeply afflicted him, when they reached his this state of things his friends resolved to re- N l ttei rt d l , from_ such a scene of excitement, and to place "A. ,: l iter ea l e quiet scenery of the country. An asylum aim in the family of Count Itzenplitsch, where kghtlinciently near t become acquainted with the k / Itt i t :ele * : e lopment of the all-important crisis,. and yet f t s ay unpleasant personal contact with it. Here, Ile-',.„Yseat of Cunersdorf, scarcely a day's journey V ! te D ' u ' r ia . wholly devoted to botany . and other fa 1/4,„tkihi Chamisso conceived the idea of Peter , A t i t t• and with rapid pen finished off the story. ,Ihttt -1 1 , 860 was often pestered with questions respect k.`"qttr.quen really meant by the story of Schlemihl.. ,N,lB ly tl ° ll s amused as well as annoyed him. The that n T his intention in writing it was perhaps k ll iq t r4 ttl; 4 80 15recise a nature as to admit of his giving lik; e eount of it. The story sprang into being of It ti ll ev er r,„ 3 , work of genius, prompted by a sFlf- N t rh":,er, In a letter to the writer of this notice, 1 7t; Itita 0 4 1 4 just commenced the story, he says, ' A Pi k 6 . fast thing you would have expected from y sh o l e , It before your wife this evening, if you have m i l she be desirous to know Schlemihl's fur aktv.`%alt-!'sres, and particularly who the man in the ee h j "-send me back the MS. immediately, that b! ) 1 1 ,,k 1 10 % , 14 9e the story ; but if you do not return it, I "tt t titer tho meaning perfectly.' Is it possible for hod submit himself to the scrutiny of the public riatue eo, ) r P14,, 1 v At y e PART OF TILE WINDBOUND FLEET. — c., 1 4 11 an !terday the Thames, below London-bridge, of tts lyn ated and bustling appearance, in consc re "e arrival of upwards of thirty sail of vessels v alll bl I ' l 4 ` ) Ps of a e cargoes, that had been detained in the 0 1 '4i th Channels, some of them nearly three r 41. ee late north-easterly winds. Among the r ;tl, 4 :tte s, ir.--frorn China, 3; Calcutta, 3; Ceylon, 1; `•k t i l 1. Demerara, 1; Antigua, 1; Alexandria, 1; its,' , 3', Novo, 1; Lisbon, 1; St. Michael's. 4; 4 1' t yte; i.lbraltar, 2 ; Marseilles, 1; Terceira, 2. kh o ti 10:ther vessels from foreign ports having _ tea . late to get docked yesterday . afternoon, hth t th, Pre' stla l n t ;vanrious carts of the river above the Nero. ti and a : t ' i ". u x of shipping will occasion considerable 'N s e e oo ,_ vlty at the Custom-house krid in the re , 1. Of where employment will be given to hun 4c,temtlir"oe labour( rs. kkLtitl6hlT4NCß EXTRAORDINARY. k t c4 h as — A butcher at at •f ro succeeded to a f or t une , var i ous ly Es t i - Nt rt whim 8 ,000/. t o 1 6,000 1 ., by the death of his ,Pe 4 u was transp orte d f or uttering base coin about 4, - a .I. vi deaft u fter wards reformed, married again, "ble wealth. There was a strange contrast be we; :n Mr. Morri son's siiee oh on Thursday right and tl:e resolutions introduced by it. The speech was excellent, detail ti.st a., fuily as it is possible to detail, what are tree infinite advaii:mges nroinheil to the country by railroads, while the resolutions were such as mus' - , if adopted, retard perlypa indefinitely the realisation of these advantages. We have often reflected with plea sure upon the manifold benefits, whether for peace or for war, which the country must derive from the universal adoption of the railway system; but, we confess, that tilr. Morrison's speech opened some flew and gratifying views to us : we will mention two. First, the extension of our fisheries, the large addi- tion to the food and the employment of the - people, as well as to our naval strength, to be anticipated from a source from which no one ever anticipated anything of the kind. The seas that surround Great Britain, " that principal gold mine of the Dutch," as iey were called nearly two centuries ago by Sir Josiah Child—the Britih seas are, as fisheries, perfectly inexhaustible ; yet hitherto the produce of those seas—produce thAt, it cultivated, would feed all Europe, has supplied little more than an article of luxury to tl.e rich at home, and an article of commerce with a few nations of the south. Fish could not be carried inland with the celerity neces sary for its wholesome use, except at an expense that placed is beyond the reach of the humbler and of even the middle classes; hence the number of fishermen and fishing-boats employed, except during the herring fishery, has been comparatively small ; another cause of enhancing the price of this, certainly not the least wholesome article of food, and preventing the habit of its use obtaining among the people. By railroad, however, fish can be carried in a state of perfect freshness from any ex tremity of the island to its very central point, and we can at once see how rapidly will extend the consumption of this savoury and eminently whole some kind of food, cooked more rapidly, more neatly, and more economically than any other, when we learn that in so populous a place as Manchester fish of the best quality has been reduced to one-eighth of is former price, reduced to a price equivalent in household consumption to about three pence a pound of the best butcher's meat. As the habit of consum ing fish grows, the numbers of fishermen and fishing boats will be multiplied, and in this way will be ex tended broadly the.basis of the naval power of Eng land, concurrently with a great increase to the com fort of her people. We can see no gap in the chain of causes and effects ; but we repeat it—this is a benefit from railroads for sseen by few, if by any. The next advantage from railroads—scarcely, if at all appreciated—is the circulation of labour. This has proceeded to some extent ; but it is plain that the operation of the benefit is not yet perfectly under stood, or we should not hear men saying, " How can the labourer take advantage of railroads, when it would cost him to travel 200 miles by the cheapest mode nearly 17s. r The circulation of labour, to be expected or to be desired, however, does not contemplate journeys of 200 miles, or 100 miles, or more than 10 or 20 miles to the individual labourer. Labour may circulate to any imaginable extent, and yet the labourer not leave his paternal cottage twenty miles behind him. Let us explain what we man by an example :—There is a redun dant supply of labour, say at Dover ; a demand for labour in London ; while the demand and supply are equal in the intermediate places. This is the process by which the balance between Dover and London will be redressed. Without tearing men altogether from old associations, and withdrawing them from the protection and support of a good character, earned by their former conduct, London will be supplied, let us say, from Croydon; the deficiency thus created at Croy don supplied from Reigate, Reigate reimbursed from Tunbridge, until Dover shall have found at Ashford a vacancy created for its surplus labour. It is thus that railroads will not only provide a means of circu. lation of labour amply sufficient in all extreme cases, but also render this practice of moderate emigration a custom amol , g the people that will, in fact, permanently adjust the supply to the demand. These two advantages, from the adoption generally of rail road intercourse, the improvement of fisheries and the circulation of labour, are, it is to be remembered, mere additions to the other advantages with which the public are familiar ' • but they are advantages of inappreciable - value. We must 11'3W come to Mr. Morrison's resolutions, which, so far from corre sponding with his acknowledgment of the ines timable importance of the promotion of railroads, would impose severe restrictions upon the develop ment of this great element of social advancement, by limiting the profits to be derived from • them to their promoters. Mr. Morrison's suggestion, however, rests upon the unfounded assumption, that wherever there is no parallel competition there must be monopoly and extortion. The assump tion is, as we have intimated, wholly groundless in many cases ; eminently so in the case of railroads. There will always be the competi tion of what we may call the moral vis inertic, in cases where men are not under an absolute compul sion to move from place to pl ice, and it is impossible to suppose that any considerable portion of the people can he compelled absolutely to locomotion. If rail road travelling is made dear, men will not travel— that must be the inevitable result. We have now four or five journeys made for one that was made a dozen years ago, merely because railroad travelling is so much less expensive of money and of time, which in England is money's worth, than coach tra velling; but let the railroad companies bring up the twofold expense of travelling to the old standard, and journeys will be reduced to a fifth of their present number as the inevitable effect of the moral vis inertias competition. This is the security that the public ha s against excessive charges, and it is a security quite sufficient.—Herald. WILSON'S SCOTTISH ENTER TAINMENTS. The announcement that Mr. Wilson would recom mence the favourite and popular entertainment of Prince Charles's Adventures in the Highlands, comprising the choicest of Jacobite songs and anecdotes, drew together, last night, a crowded and fashionable audience at the Music-hall. We have so often and repeatedly expressed our admiration of this class of amusement, that it would •be superfluous to repeat it here ; but we may remark that Mr. Wilson, being the originator of these entertain ments, which hare now become so numerous, is entitled to the highest praise of the public, which they fully tes tify by their numerous attendance to listen to his dis course of " song . and tale, not only last night, but on every night of his appearance. All the songs of the programme were deserve. dly applauded, and many were lustily encored. Arming those were—" Wha would na fecht for " Hey Johnnie Cope," and " Allis ter M‘Allister," all Is hich were sung with the most thrilling enthusiasm by the " minstrel." After the songs of the evening were given, Mr. Wilson announced that he had the honour of being requested by Major Burns, son of the "Bard," who, with a party, occupied a box there, to sing " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," the composition of his immortal father ; also, in com pliance with another, to g ive the humourous song o f " Hame cam our gude man. " The former was recited in a spirited style, such as Wilson alone is capable of in fusing into a song of so noble and national a character ; and the latter, by his happy mimicry of the dialogue between the "gude man nod gude wife," elicited bursts of laughter. At the conclusion of the entertainment, Mr. Wilson received tokens of the enjoyment his au dience had received by the hearty applause with which he was cheered on leaving the platform, which he well deserved, for he is not only a favourite here, but also in the provinces. The Very Rey. the Dean of Chester and family have been placed in mourning, by the demise, last week, at Sudbury Rectory, of the reverend gentleman's youngest sun, Lieutenant Thomas Anson, of the Royal * Navy. The deceased gallant officer was brother to Mr. George Edward Anson, treasurer to his Royal Highness Prince Albert. The oft-repeated rumour respecting an alteration in the conveyance of mails to and from this island, and the transfer of the service from the regular mail packets to the Southampton steamers, has again been revived during the past week. From the information we have been enabled to collect, it would appear that there is some foundation for the report this time, and that the South-Western Company have received notice to be in readinesS for the 15th of April.—Jersey Tines. DINNER TO SIR HENRY POTTINGER.—At a spe cial meeting of the town council held today in their hall, Wilson-street, it was unanimously resolved to in vite Sir Henry Pottinger to dine with the corporation on the occasion of his visit to Glasgow, on the 16th of April next ; also to prt sent Sir Henry with the freedom of the city, in testimony of their respect for his eminent public services.— Glasgow Saturday Post. CONVICTS FOR VAN DIEMEN'S LAND AND BEE muDA.—About 220 convicts were brought from the Mil bank prison, in Westminster, to the Theresa, hired con vict transport ship, off Woolwich, for conveyance toNew South Wales. About 200 convicts were brought dowh last week, and put on board the Warrior, preparatory to being transferred to the China, hired convict ship, fur conveyance to Bermuda. MILTON, NEXT GRAVESEND.—MT. William Crome, of Erith Cottage, Old Kent-road, died on Saturday, the 15th instant, in the 80th year of his age. He was the man that brought the first news to Lord Liverpool of the glorious victory over the French army at Waterloo. Mr. W. Crome at that time, was a resident at Ostend. A SAGACIOUS DOG.— On Saturday afternoon a large mastiff dog, kept by Mr. William Semmence, at high Lanes, rushed into the dwelling-house, barking and howling violently. The inmates, thinking this was occasioned by some person passing by, took no notice of it, till the faithful watchdog caught one of Mr. Sern mence's daughters by her clothes, and dragged her out side the house ; he then let her go, and began barking and leaping up towards the roof, which the young wo man immediately dise.ivered to be on fire. It was soon perceived that there was no possibility of saving the house from destruction ; the inmates, therefore, con tented themselves +iih removing the furniture. The tire soon extended to an adjoining house, occupied by Nicholas Oliver, which was also reduced to ruins, the inmates succeeding in saving their furniture. The pre mises were not inmed.—Falmouth Peace, SuN, LONDON, TI ESDAY EVENING, MARCH QS, 1845. FRENCH RAILWAY COMPANIES. The following is the Bill drawn up by the Com mittee appointed by the Chamber of Peers to examine Count Daruss proposition relative to the proceedings of railroad Companies : Art. 1. Companies formed for the partial or in tegral execution of railroads cannot, under the pe nalties fixed by Art. 419 of the penal code, create or issue shares or prsmises of shares, before the period that they shall have been constituted en societie anonyme, in the forms ordered by Art. 37 of the commercial cole. Art. 2. There can only be delivered to subscribers a receipt of the sums or assets by them paid in. This receipt shall be addressed to each person by name. It shall be cut off from a register kept for the pur pose, and shall have a fixed number. It shall men tion the number of shares demanded by the subscriber; and, in addition, shall state. first, the purport of Arts. 4 arid 5 of the present Bill ; and, second, the obligation under which each subscriber lies, to ex change the receipt for shares, when the society shall have been legally constituted. Art. 3. These receipts cannot be quoted at the Bourse. All publications whatever of their value, be fore the issue of the royal ordonnance authorising the formation of the company, shall be punished by a fine of from 500 f. to 3,0001. Art. 4. These receipts cannot in any way be transferred or ceded, in totality or in part, under pain of nullity of all negotiation of the kind. The sums pail for any such negotiations may be remanded and sued for. Art. 5. Furthermore, all persons engaged in such negotiation of receipts, whether principals or agents, may be punished by fines not exceeding the capital of the values negotia - ed. Art. 6. All notaries, agens de change, or other per sons who may assist in such negotiations, are to be liable to lose their places, and in addition to be fined from 500 f. to 5,000 f. for each negotiation. Art. 7. No adjudication of any railroad line can be definitively approved of by royal ordonnance, unless the socigte anonyme shall have been at the same time authorised in the form prescribed by Article 37 of the Communal Code. Art. 8. Within the month after the issue of the royal ordonnance, the receipts shall be changed for shares. Should the subscriber not. appear in person to claim his shares, the authority which he gives to his agent or representative must be in authentic form, and must bear date posterior to the royal or donnance. Art. 9. After the delivery of the shares, the ori ginal subscribers shall not remain responsible to the company for more than five-tenths of the nominal ca pital of the shares, for which they have subscribed. Art. 10. The first payment of each subscription cannot be inferior to the tenth of the nominal value of the shares subscribed for. Art. 11. The projectors, directors, or provisional managers of the company are personally and con jointly responsible to the subscribers and to the com pany, for the safe-keeping and employment of the sums paid in. . Art. 12. The funds arising from the - subscriptions are to be paid into the Casse des Depots et Consigna tions within ten days after they have been received, under penalty of the application of Art 40 of the Penal Code. Art. 13. The Caisse des Depots et Consignations shall draw the interests that may fall due, and shall credit the company therewith, the company account ing for the same to the subscribers. Art. 14. The company to which the concession is granted may draw out its funds, with the interest thereon, as soon as it shall have been regularly con stituted by royal ordonnance. In case of non-con• cession, the funds deposited as ordered above, and the interests thereon, shall be paid back to the subscribers, the lawful expenses being always deducted. Art. 15. It is forbidden, under pain of nullity of all the proceedings, to stipulate in the provisional statutes any indemnity, retribution, or salary what ever, to the projectors, directors, or temporary managers. Art. 16. The designation of the directors or ma nagers in the statutes, before the approbation by Royal ordonnance, is essentially provisional. Art. 17. Within three months after the Royal ordon nance, the shareholders shall be convoked in a general meeting,S o definitively appoint directors or managers —to fix their emoluments—and to determine and re pay all that may be due to the projectors, for ad vances, cost of surveys, or other expenses. DINNER at the MANSION-HOUSE. Yesterday the Lord Mayor gave a grand entertain ment in the Egyptian-hall, at the Mansion-house, when about three hundred sat down to a sumptuous banquet. Amongst the distinguished guests present were Lord Stanley, the Earl of Lincoln, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Bishop of Llandaff, the Bishop of Peter borough, Mr. Baron Rolfe, Sir H. Pottinger, the Cheva ll,r Bunsen, the Prussian Ambas-ador, the Buenos Ayres Minister, Sir Felix Booth, Alderman Moon, &c. After the banquet, the cloth having been removed, and " Nun nobis" sung by the professional singers engaged, The LORD MAYOR gave " The Hi , alth of the Queen," and in doing so reminded the assembly of the high honour which her Majesty had dune to the City of Lou don within the Ja,t twelvemonth, by presiding at the opening of the Royal Exchange, and also by visiting Christ's Hospital at supper time. The toast was drunk amidst enthusiastic cheering. " God save the Queen," The Lorin MAYOR then gave " The Queen Dowager,' which was drunk with all the honours.—Glee. The LORD MAYOR then gave " Prince Albert and the rest of the Royal Family," observing that his Royal Highness had become a governor of all the royal hos pitals in the City.—(Hear.) Drunk amidst loud cheer ing T. —he x G n i e ee t . toast was " The Army and Navy." " Rule Britarmia." The LORD MAYOR then gave " The Health of the Foreign Ministers in this country." The Chevalier BUNSEN, the Prussian Minister, re turned thanks, arel expatiated on the importance of maintaining peace, for the benefit of the communities of all the states in Europe. Whilst England maintained her present firm position, in opposition to hostile move ments, it was impossible for any nation in Europe to disturb the present amicable state of affairs.—(Hear.) The LORD MAYOR then gave " The Health of her Majesty's Ministers," and complimented them upon the manner in which they had restored the balance between the revenue and expenditure of the country.—(Hear.) Lord STANLEY begged to return thanks for the honour which had been done to himself and the colleagues with whom he had the pleasure to co-operate. In under taking this pleasing task he could not help regretting the absence of other members of the Administration, who, he was sure, would have felt proud to have been present on this occasion. The Premier had gone to his family seat in Warwickshire, and the Duke Of Wellington had been obliged also, by the infirmities which age brought upon him, to go into the country during the vacation. But he was happy to say, and he thanked God fur being able to say it, that the infirmities of the body were not accompanied by any diminution of the mental faculties.— (Ilear, hear.) The Noble Lord then proceeded to say that he cordially concurred with his Excellency the Prussian Minister as to the importance of the main tenance of peace. War presented no advantages com mensurate with the horrors which it incurred. Apart from all religious grounds of opposition, he believed it was now generally agreed that the horrors of war should not he wantonly incurred by the nations of the world.—(Hear, hear.) The inci dents of war were of a terrible and revolting cha racter, which would not be incurred unless under the most stringent eccasioe.—(Hear, hear.) Considering the matter in this light, her Majesty's Government had felt it their duty, whenever a difference of opinion arose with a foreign power, not weakly to yield to the demands of that power, but to ask for those explanations which by the nature of the case could be given; and it had not occurred in any of these cases that they had had occasion to desire to seek other means of obtaining what was their due.—(Hear, hear.) Whilst seeking to promote a general peace, however, the Government had not neglected to place the resources of the country on such a footing as to enable them to meet at any time any hostile movement which might be made against them. With this view, their first object had been to place the resources of the country upon such a footing that they should be well prepared to meet any fair demand that might come be fore them. The equalisation of the expenditure and the revenue of the country was one of the first p o i n t s o f anxiety with her Majesty's Ministers , and the country, by generously seconding and promoting those views, had ably dune its duty, and ensured a permanent advantage to their commercial relations and fiscal position.—(Hear.) Her Majesty's Ministers, after the success which had attended them in this matter, felt with pleasure that, if at any period, however near, they should be superseded in their official position, they had laid the foundation for a permanent peace, which no country in Europe would heedlessly dare to interrupt.—(Cheers.) The Noble Lord, in conclusion, proposed the health of the Lord Mayor. The LORD MAYOR returned thanks, and then proposed " The Church of England." If true to itself, it must stand.—(Cheers.) The Bishop of LLANDAFF returned thanks. The next toast was " The Bishop of Peterborough, and thanks for his sermon to-day at Spital church." The Bishop of PETERBOROUGH returned thanks. The next toast was "'rho House of Peers." Lord CANTILUPE returned thanks. The Chevalier BUNSEN then proposed " The Health of the Lady Mayoress."—Drunk amidst loud eheere. The LORD MAYOR returned thanks. The ladies then left the room. " The Members of the House of Commons" was the next toast, The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER returned thanks. The next toast was " Sir Henry Pottinger." Sir HENRY POTTINGER returned thanks. After some other toasts the assembly adjourned to the drawing-room, where dancing commenced, and was kept up with great spirit for some hours. DARING STREET ROBBERY.—Yesterday inforra• tion was r,ceived at the head st a ti on o f th e Ddivision, n Maryleh'ne-lane, of the following daring street robbery having been committed on Saturday last:—At about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, a lady of the name of Bryant gat into one of the omnibuses running between the Elept.ant and. Castle and St. John's-wood, which set her down at the junction of Crawford and Baker-streets. Before quitting the omnibus Mrs. Bryant pulled out her purse, fur the purpose of taking out the fare, and imme diately returned it to her pocket. On reaching the house of a friend, only a few doors up Crawford-street, she found that her purse, with its centents, a Bank of Eng land note for 401., six sovereigns, and some loose silver, with a " Punch's Pocket-book," had been stolen. It has since been ascertained that two young men, accompanied by a lad, who are supposed to belong to the swell mob, sat opposite Mrs. Brant in th e omn ib us , and on her getting out immediately followed her, and were observed to walk close behind her along Crawford-street, when, there is no doubt, they picked her pocket. One of them is described as about five feet six inches high, twenty one or twenty-two years old, t hi n an d d ar k , dresse d i n a dark great coat, a light f as hi ona bl e cravat, w i t h a large common pin displayed iu it, and two scars on his face. The other about the same height, and dressed in a similar style. The lad was about fifteen or sixteen years of age, pale, and his face very much freckled, dressed in a dark great coat, with two neckerchiefs on (blue and brown), and wore a common pin in them. All three cau be identified. A SINGULAR Couri.n.—At Rochdale petty ses sions, on Monday last, a tall, g oo d-l oo ki ng f em ale, aged 27 years, named Eliza Wils on , f rom t h e towns hip of Bamford, near Heywood, wa s brought up under a war rant, charged by Andrew Wilson, her husband, aged 85 years, with having assaulted him on the Tuesday pre viJus. Mr. Jackson, solicitor, appeared on behalf of complainant, and said the couple had been married about five years. During that ti me d e f en d ant h a d bad one child, which is a fine boy, a b out f our years of age, and which stood by its moth er . T he old man was possessed of considerable property. Th e o ld h us b an d and the young wife had separ a t e d several t i mes , a nd he had taken out warrants against hi s wi f e, b u t the affairs, ex cept the last, had alway s b een comprom i s ed. The old man complained of having been struck with a fire poker by his wife. The magistrates requested the parties, together with their solicitors, to arra nge matters. In a short time they returned into court, when it was stated that the wife had agreed to accept of 9s. per week. The old man was requested to pay her that sum during his life, to which he consented. The parties reside in sepa rate lodgings at Bamlurd.—Preston Guardian. REMOVAL OF THE NEW WATERMEN'S FLOATING PIER AT LONDON.DRIDGE.-011 Saturday afternoon considerable excitement was created at London-bridge, in consequence of a party of the Thames police, acting under the direction of the harbour-master, proceeding to remove the two new floating piers, moored by the free watermen at London-bridge ; one at the plying stairs on the north shore, adjoining Fishmongers' Hall ; and the other on the south shore, alongside Fenning's Wharf. It appears the watermen who claim the privilege of landing and embarking passengers at the plying stairs had, during the night of Thursday, without any notice to or authority from the river authorities, brought the piers from above bridge, and moored them at the places mentioned, and on Good Friday the watermen's boats plying between Chelsea, London -bridge, and Greenwich, for the first time commenced landing and embarking passengers. On Saturday, in consequence of representations being made of the circumstances under which they had been moored, and the obstruction in the river created by them, an order was issued directing their immediate removal, which was served upon the parties in charge of the piers, who at once refused to obey the order, and set the police at defiance. After a parley of upwards of an hour, the police, acting under their directions, let go the moorings, and succeeded in effecting their removal. On Sunday morning the dis comfited watermen removed the mooring -chains which they had sunk in the river, and thus the matter rests fur the present. DEVON AND CORNWALL WuEsruNG.--Yesterday afternoon the wrestling, without shoes, between the natives of the above counties, commenc:d sta a n t d t a h r e ds 7ec th k flock Tavern, Camden-town, and a z g e r s ea c t om nu m m e b r e m r in o g f per sonsthis attended to witness this ancient sport. The after noon's doubleo o n 's a p i l i a d y tre wasbl playe confined for to th e making pri day. The play of Bond (Cornish), a deformed man, was good, as was also that of Gainer, who lifted his com petitor over his shoulder, and threw him a geat'e fair back. The principal play of the afternoon was between Chapple, of Devon, and Gill, of Cornwall, two good wrestlers. They played together for some time, and both went down, but Gill, after a very severe s t rugg l e , caught his opponent in the Cornish " lock," an d t h rew great cheering. The playing off is expected t biro, b go o d amidst " FREE" DESERTER.--We und ers t an d . ANOTHER the Rev. Mr. M' Phie, late an ordained minister of the Establislred Church in the Island of Harris, but who joined the " Free" at tho disruption, has since seen the error of his ways, and been restored to the Establish ment, which he regrets he ever left. Others will soon follow this example. We expect to record rather a re markable one in the Gazette of next Saturday. —Sects Reformers' Gozate. THE THEATRES. DIZLIRY-LAA'E. In conseqsence of the illness of Miss Romer, Babe's opera of the Bohemian Girl was substituted for Robert the Devil, which had been announced as the first piece to be performed last evening. After the opera, we had a new comic ballet, entitled Robert et Bertrand. This ballet is another version of Robert illacaire, and we had no idea that the story of our old friend Robert could have been made into such an excellent plot for a ballet. It is true that various episodes were introduced in order to give an oppor tunity for the production of various pas de caractere, in which Mademoiselle Polin and M. Gasparini, from the Royal Opera, Berlin, made their first appearance before an Eeglish audience. Mademoiselle Polin is decidedly the most accomplished dansense who has appeared at Drury-lane during the present season. She is very young, very pretty, and very ani mated; there is a jlyousness about her style of dancing which reminds one strongly of Cerito, while for neatness o f execu ti on s h e r i va l s even . Fanny Ellsler herself. She appears first of all in a grand pas de deux with Gasparini. In this pas she was exceedingly graceful, and her tours d'adresse were neat and beautiful in the extreme. She was rapturously applauded, and from that mo ment took her station as one of the first danseuses of the day—as La 'Nesse of the theatre. She next ap peared in a new Polka with Gasparini. This Polka, infinitely superior to the original Polka—superior even to the Redowa—is certainly the most charac teristic and spirited that we have yet seen in England. Polin entered thoroughly into its spirit, and not only danced it exquisitely, but acted it with the most be witching coquetry. It is needless to say that she was rapturously applauded, and that the dance was enthusiastically encored. Her last pas was a pas seul, a tambourine dance, La Esmerakla. it was a per fect triumph, and MademoiSelle Polin may consider herself as firmly fixed in the favour of the British public. She was excellently supported by Gasparini, who is a clever and accomplished dancer. Mesde moiselles Adele and Louise also made their first ap pearance before a Drury-lane audience in this ballet, and danced a pus de deux and a bolero very gracefully and cleverly—they are accomplished artistes, anti will be an acquisition to the corps of the theatre. Payne, the prince of buffo dancers, was Robert Macaire, and T. Mathews was Bertrand. Their pantomime was first-rate, and their burlesque of the " Cachouca" was one of the most humorous things we have seen for many a long day. . The au dience were in a roar the whole time of its perform ance, and at the conclusion, it was rapturously encored. The ballet ends with a fete a la Vaux hall, in which a balancer exhibits some very won derful feats, and Robert and Bertrand ascend in a balloon, and thus escape from their pursuers. The house was very well attended. HAYMARKET. The performances at the Haymarket, last night, opened with the Sherfy of the County, which bids fair for as great a run of popularity as Old Heads and loung Hearts, its predecessor. The rural simplicity of the Sheriff (Mr. W. Farren), the tawdry pride of the Sheriff's wife, the gaucherie of the servants, an d the historical blunders of Pansy, the gardener (Buck stone) continue to amuse as much as ever. As for the episodical story of the soldier, who is sentenced to be shot for knocking down his superior officer, it is dull, heavy, and tiresome, and quite out of keeping with the lively characters of the play. Webster 's acting as Lord Mayor's footman, a sort of culinary drill-sergeant, was admitable, and Mr. Strickland exemplified the craft and selfishness of Smirker, the attorney, in a manner which was loudly applauded. " A new grand, classical, extravaganza," as the bill terms it, called the Golden Fleece, was brought out here last night, for the first time. It is in two parts, and .Mr. Planche is the author. Every school-boy knows the history of Jason and the Golden Fleece. /Eetes, King of , Colchis (Mr. James Bland) promises to restore the golden fleece, provided Jason tamed bulls which breathed flames to conquer a multitude of armed men who would spring from a field, which Jason was obliged to sow with serpents' teeth, and to kill a dra gon which incessantly watched at the foot of a tree from which the Golden Fleece was suspended. Medea, the King's daughter (Madame Vestri.), falls in love with Jason (Miss P. Horton), and in return for vows of eternal fidelity, promises to deliver him from all dangers. The stage, after the fashion of the ruined Greek Theatre, was partially raised, and the rising of the curtain discloses the Palace of the King of Colchis, on the front of which is written in Greek and English characters, " All in my eye and Betty Martin. There is a mock throne, and the chorus is represented by Mr. Charles Mathews, dressed in the most approved classical costume, who, as the bill in forms us, "renders at least 59 male voices perfectly useless." To sustain a performance:like this, where the plot has little interest, an almost uninter rupted flow of humour is necessary a succession of ridiculous incidents, humorous expressions, and witty phrases ; dulness in a composition, which has neither solidity or refinement to re commend it, is intolerable. Mr. Planche seems fully alive to this, and the Golden Fleece contains a great deal cf broad farcical humour, and of a vein of lively ridicule. YEetes is attired much in the same manner as Creon in Antigone, and. Bland mimics, with much - truth and effect, the pomp and dignity of Vandenhoff. Jason sing; a most unclassical song, " I'm a sprightly, lively lad." .Eetes leaves the stage, and Jason, -- Pursues the King, To the grind-stone his nose to bring, when Medea is about to charm the dragon, she ol serves, that The dragon is a very artful dotiger:, And sleeps with one eye open—the dry old codger. And Jason fears he will be, Like the Lord Chancellor who got the pack, lie has lust the woul and only got the sack. When Medea inquires, in what manner, ./Ectes' spirit fled, Jason replies By a punch on the head. And .(Eetes says That fatal punch, I feel it in my noddle, And down to Pluto's realms I must toddle. So much for the first part. The foundation of the second is—Creon, King of Corinth, promises his daughter (Glances) to Jason, who repudiates Medea. Medea, in revenge, sends her a poisoned garment, from which she dies, and Creon, with his family, share a similar fate, the palace being burnt, with which the piece concludes. Medea complains of Jason's conduct, and says that — How mad it will drive her ; I'll be thrown on the parish without a single stiver. And pathetically exclaims— He (Jason) lives in a fine palace over there, While I and my two babbies are coop'd in a two-pair ! And when the chorus remonstrate she, after some fine reasoning, classically exclaims— And, therefore, 11.03: inveterate haters, Close up the trap in which you put your taters ! Creon interferes, upon which Medea says— None of your soft sawder, Your downy words don't weigh with me a feather ! When Medea says — A bridal gift for Glances I'm preparing. The Chorus answers— And which, I have no doubt, she'll be the worse for wearing, The Chorus, speaking of Jason, says— If I were his father I'd break all his bone, And send him to sea like that other boy Jones. NVe cannot notice this piece at greater length, and must conclude by remarking, that it was loudly ap plauded, and that at the fall of the curtain Mr. Mathews came forward, amid the cheers of the au dience, and announced its continuance until further notice. ADELPHI. Even if those " sweet recorders," the play-bills, were more modest and less lavish of their promises than they generally are, one would have many reasons for expecting a treat on Easter Monday. In the first place, after the rigours of Lent, during which, of course, as good Christians, we have observed all that the rubric and the most precise and normal divine doctor would enjoin, we are anxious, and na turally so, for a little relief, and betake ourselves to our ordinary mundane amusements ; and, in the next place, considering how we have been la'ely kept within doors, muffled to the mouth, and as near as we could well sit to as large a fire as we could well have, it is not to be wondered at if we were ready to enjoy the first day of spring, and willing to find good in everything. But that is a dangerous state of feeling for one to enter a theatre with, who is supposed to be as rigid at Themis her self, so we allowed ourselves to cool down as much as possible before witnessing St. George and the Dra gon, the Easter-piece at this theatre, the plot of which is as simple as can well he, and simplicity is a charm whenever it does not run into—and the parti tion is very easily overstepped—silliness. St. George (Miss Woolgar), and the other six Champions set out upon their adventures. St. George arrives in Egypt, where he falls into the very best so cety—that of King Ptolemy (Mr. Selby), and into the very best love—that of the King's daugh ter, the Princess Sabra (Miss Chaplin). But the Princess is too pretty not to have more com petitors for her hand than St. George. Alinidor, Emperor of Morocco (Mr. Wright), and the Dragon (Mr. Paul Bedford), are his rivals. The scenery is, therefore, principally Egyptian, and it is really beau tifully executed. The Egyptians had a taste for the grand and beautiful, and any one who reads , Lu can's description of Caesar by Cleopatra will be of our opinion; and though we cannot boast of having seen the old Viceroy, or the Pyramids, or the three hundred -gated Memphis, or the Nile, we had a good deal realised for us last night, and saw living and moving rerresentations of whet we be fore only knew through mummies and the Museum. The scene of the grand procession and the last tableau were exquisite. With regard to the dialogue, it was of the liveliest character, and well sustained through out. The jeux des mots told with the happiest of effect. The St. George was, of course, the great re dresser of wrongs—not a gambling booth, not a thimble-rig or loan society, in upper or lower Egypt, that he did not put an extinguisher upon ;.not a pill or bolus sold by the quacks that a certain Egyptian medical bill gave them a liberty of dispensing the effects of which he did not destroy; in short, he did everything that a good legislator ought to do, or upset everything that bad legislators often do, and for his reward he obtained the hand of the fair Princess, and distanced his rivals. And the best of the thing was, and herein the moral of the piece consists, that he effected all this, not like the St. George of old, but by the aid which modern civilisation employs—public opinion and the press. The acting of Mr. Wright and Mr. Bedford was, what every one knows it to be, all that could well be desired. The piece was emi nently successful, well applauded by a full house, and likely to have a long run. LYCEUM. A new extravaganza, under the title of Whit tington and his Cat, was produced as the Easter piece, last night, at the Lyceum, to a brilliant and crowded audience. Whittington and his Cat is of the same stamp as Aladdin, Valentine and Orson and the Forty Thieves, which have lately been produced at the Lyceum ; and it bids fair to rival those witty and successful spectacles which have hitherto been the mainstay of the theatre under the present manage , ment. The piece of last night is one continued stream of wit, and the laughter which greeted it never flagged for a moment. The various allusions —and they were many—to the prominent topics of the day were eagerly caught up by the audience and applauded to the echo. Mrs. Keeley sustained the character of the hero of the piece, and we need not say with what spirit she invested it. Miss Fairbrother was as charming as ever as the Princess, and with Mr. A. Wigan received a large share of well-merited ap plause for the performance of the Cellarius Valse. Two young ladies, Miss Villars and Miss Dawson, made their first appearance last night, were well re ceived, and will, we are confident, prove great acqui sitions to the company. The spectacle was gorge ously put upon the stage, and it will, no doubt, run through the season. During the recess the theatre has been re-decorated, and it presents now a very light and elegant appearance. PRINCESS'S THEATRE. The Stranger is a play so well known to every part of the British empire, that an observation upon it would be almost as superfluous as upon the opera of La Sonnambula, yet each is so exquisitely beauti ful, that the announcement of either is always a guarantee for a full house. Such was the result, last evening, cf the announcement of The Stranger at the Princess's; but no doubt the appearance of Miss Cushman as Mrs. Haller attracted very many. She is a young lady of great talent, and evidently under stood her part well, and appreciated it, too, for her reading and acting produced a simultaneous disguise of all the fi.ir eyes and faces, and a display of all the white handkerchiefs, in every box where a female was visible. Mr. Grahams Stranger was a good piece of acting, and such as proves him to be a man of no inconsiderable ta lent; and both he and Miss Cushman were well supported, and did not elicit a whit more ap plause than they merited, though it was loud and long-continued. The new " Grand oriental burlesque Extravaganza" was very beautifully got up ; the talent of the painters to whom was entrusted the exe cution of the scenic department of the display, was here most effectively brought out—the distances, lights, wood, water, and perspective, were distributed, softened, and fixed in a manner so skilful and true to nature, as to rivet the gaze, deceive the senses, and elicit an involuntary burst of admiration. It opened with a view of an oriental palace supported on arches, beneath which appeared to flow water between arti ficial marble embankments, until all disappeared in the distant meeting of the horizon. Then came a moonlight scene of beauty still more exquisite but not less perfect ; while the crowded corps dramatique heightened the coup d'ceil to an effect almost magical. The author of the piece deserves much credit for the terse sentences and home and witty hits he has made, of the truth and facetiousness of which the audience admitted many proofs by their repeated plaudits. The couplets took occasional sly hits at the state of " things as they are," such as when Timour was taunted with not attempting to lay siege to England, " Where might be reaped a harvest rich and good." The mighty monarch compassionately exclaimed "But then her walls are only made of wood, "Yet if he did begin, he'd make them rue it.' Whereupon his right-hand man put in an (aside) "So Joinville said—l'd like to see him do it." The scene then changed to a burlesque tournament, the Largesse of which the King Timour gave forth in these words, pipe in hand : "Now, Heralds, blow, and blow it long and loud ; "And while ye raise a dust, I'll blow a cloud." The spirit of the piece was kept up with unabated vigour to the end, mar which the heroine, in reply to an innuendo from the Grand Vizier, expresses her doubts that "A minister with power could ere abnse it." " Aye, quoth the V. do any thing but lose it." " I will resist him, despite all his terror, And make him know the law by writ of error." " Be careful, madame—Don't increase his fury; For if you do, he'll challenge all the jury." The piece had not concluded by twelve o'clock, and up to that time the interest and amusement it created and kept alive were such, that not a seat was vacated until the curtain dropped. SADLER'S WELLS. The even course of the highly talented directors of this renovated and now classical theatre, Mrs. War ner and Mr. Phelps, proceeds, unruffled by joyous bursts of holiday extravagance, and undiverted by the wild sports of periodical pantomime, which come timely and in their season to relieve the dulness, and briefly raise the hopes of those once great houses, from which the spirits of Shakspeare, Massinger, and Otway have long since fled, to find at last a re cognised temple and fitting worshippers upon the banks of the New River. It seemed a bold attempt to restore Shakspeare to his genuine grandeur, and to present the true play of King Richard the Third, from the original text, upon the boards of Sadler's Wells—real Shakspeare in the place of real water ! The success was as gre at as it was unexpected, and as the talents and spirit of the managers deserved. The performance was fully and carefully re viewed in The Sun, upon the first night of the representation, and last night offers nothing new for comment but the remarkable fact, that Shakespeare's Richard the Third (and not even the profane and popular version of Cibber), attracted, upon Easter Monday, a full, elegant, and delighted audience. There could scarcely be a greater tribute to the "immortal bard," or a greater compliment to the patrons and managers of this flourishing theatre. Mrs. 'Warner, in the arduous and grandly drawn character of Margaret, Phelps as Richard, xith Marstcn, G. Bennet and J. Webster, sustained their well-earned reputation and were rewarded with re peated and judicious applause. We have only to add our hearty encouragement to the managers. "Go on and prosper." OLYMPIC. This house opened for the Easter holidays with three new pieces. The first, indeed, is stated to be only an adaptation from the American stage, by Leman Rede, but it may with much greater truth ba termed an original drama, as not only is the dialogue re-written, but the plot itself is considerably changed and im proved. The principal object intended by the talcnted adapter of the piece, was to intro duce Mr. Marble, the eminent Transatlantic comedian, in the character of a thorough Kentuckian, one of the earliest settlers in the back woods, " half• horse, half-alligator, with a pretty considerable dash of lightning," the connecting link as it were, be tween the red man and the civilised dweller in the city. Samson Hardhead, therefore, "the game-cock of the wilderness," is in fact the only character, the others being merely auxiliary ; and though 111 r Marble in this, as i n a ll hi s e ff o rts, kept up the in terest of his audience, yet we could have wished . that the stale Jonath an i sms h a d been less frequently in terspersed, and that something more akin to real life and real feelings had been substituted. The plot is of the most common-place character. Colonel Mereville (Mr. Mellon). a landed proprietor on the Ohio, is attacked in his residence by a war party of Indians, and his son is in his presence knocked on the head and thrown into the river. That son is rescued, and, at an after period, proves to be Samson Hardhead. Until the discovery is made, however, he settles in the neighbourhood of his father's house, forms an acquaintance with Roderick (Mr. Binge), a young gentleman affianced to his sister, and, as might be expected , regards with a corresponding hatred Dorrington (Mr. F. Burton), that friend's rival, and Clara Mereville's (Miss Field ing's) rejected suitor. Then there is Nance Butler, " the Yet:ow Flower cf the Forest," Hardhead's ina• marata, most felicitously represented by Miss Kate Howard. Dorrington, chagrined at the refusal of his suit, determines on the murder of his rival ; and with the assistance of Dodger (Mr. Tumour), afterwards conceals the purse, &c., of his victim in the cabin of Hardhead. The latter is taken into custody, and, on the presumptive evidence, condemned to die, when, in the nick of time, the Dodger informs upon his prin cipal ; and while he is punish e d a ll th e ot h ers are re warded. A petite comedy, entitled The Plague of Plymouth, went off very trippingly, Mr. Roxby - sus taining the principal p ar t. Th en f o ll owe d a d ance by Miss Wright, very beautifully executed, so much Et), indeed, that she was punished with an encore. The amusements of the evening concluded with (we Onto the bill) an entirely new, novel, and perfectly origi nal, grand, romantic, chivalric, burlesque extrava ganza, neither adapted, nor taken from, the French, but founded upon the well kn own history of the " Seven Champions of Christendom." The thing, as we could gither, was entitled St. George and the Dragon, and, if we recollect a newspaper paragraph aright, was announced as being written by a gentle man of " considerable literary celebrity." We have - no desire to know any other of the author's doings, for a more vapid effusion than that under notice we have never witnessed; and we were only sorry to observe Miss Davenport, Miss Kate Howard, and other clever artistes, trying ineffectually to impart an interest to halting metre, unbrightened by the most distant approach t 9 an idea. We have remarked with regret the absence of Mr. Waldron from the boards of this theatre, and we rrgret his absence the more, that none seem to have been engaged able to supply his place in the coming season. THE MISSING PACKET SHIPS. (From the Liverpool Albion.) The missing packet ships, United States and England, the former of which sailed from Liverpool on the 26th of November, the latter on the Ist of December, conti nued, when the last accounts left New York, to be the theme of deep anxiety on the part of the owners and the public. Both the vessels had valuable cargoes. One of the cabin passengers on board of the United States was the Rev. Mr. Tulloch, who fled from Scotland after com mating forgery, and after whom an officer was dispatched by the steamer ; had he reached his destination he would have been immediately arrested. We subjoin a list of the crew and passengers on board of each vessel, their fate, we fear, heint , no longer problematical : PACKET SHIP ENGLAND.—Smnut-1 Bartlett, master ; A. W. Trubsham, mate ; Seth D. Keys, second ditto ; Charles Wilson, carpenter ; Wm. M'Cormick, Robert Henry, Edward Dugdale, James Stevenson, John Ander son, George Wolsey, Sampson King, James Morgan, Colen M'Carthy, Thomas Byard, all of New York ; Ro derick M‘Dunahl, of Maine ; John Wildams, of Rhode Island ; John O'Neile, of Maryland ; Stephen Reed, of ditto ; Theodore Thompson, of Sweden ; Olaf Wilson, of ditto ; John Douglass, of Hamburgh ; James Thomas, of England. Passengers—None in the cabin. Steerage: John Jennings, Mary Benny, Peter Boyle, Henry Moncer, Patrick Ranyun, Michael Williams, Robert Gilchrist, James Marson, Robert Atkins, Daniel Scunlon, Barney Doneghan, James M`Gough, Michael Donaghey, Mary Ann Kerr. Sarah Kerr, Fralicls M'Kerne, Michael Deulin, James Allen, Mrs. Mattenly, Mary Ann Mat tenly, William Mattenly, Biddy M'Cabe, Rose Quillen, Richard Tyson, Peter Reilly, John Brown, Mary Brown, Luke Allot, Easter Allet, William Downs, Margaret M'Guire, John Bibby, William Douglas, James Mulhol land, Rim Mu holland, Ann and infant Mulholland, William Blake,Williarn Culbert, Margaret Lovett, Mary M'Cloud, John Knowles, Daniel Wright, Henry Spence, Robert Hamilton, John Armstrong, Ellen Weary, Ca therine Beresford, John Beresford, Thomas Beresford, Joseph Beresford, Rose Anne Beresford, James Corri gay, Margaret Walton, Bridget Donovon, Sarah Com stock, Mary Comstock, Jane Comstock, John Comstock, Sarah Comstock, Thomas Wyfield, Mary Donaghey, nonaghey, Mary Donaghey, Juhn Donaghey, Isabella. Donaghey. PACKET SHIP UNITED STATES.—Alexander Britton, master; John Crafts, mate; Francis Donnell, second ditto; Robert M'Auley, Samuel Ditcher, Peter Rut ledge, Ft ancie Reimers, Daniel Clark, George Lewis, John Brotter, George Dickson, all of New York; R. G. Pettit, of New Jersey; William Gates, John Powers, Henry Anderson, John Williams, William Taylor, Wm. Johnson, all of Mas,achusetts ; William Thompson and Henry Taylor, of Maine ' • John Williams and James Hogan, of Pennsylvania ; F. A. Davis, of Connecticut ; Nicholas Pierce, of Antwerp. Cabin Passengers—Mr. Hull and the Rev. Mr. Tulloch. Steerage—James Birchall, B. Malone, Elizabeth Ma lone, Charles Long, Luke Muldary: Jelin Tophum, Ann and infant Tophum, Ann Meore, Archy Lynn, Wm. Gribbs, Jane Mullen, Catherine Mullen, Mac Switza, Mrs. Switza, James Darcy, Thomas Williams, Eliza and infant Williams ' Richard Williams, Alice Williams, Tims, Mary Ann and infant Tims, Biddy M'Guirk, Mary and infant M'Guirk, Arthur M'Guirk, Biddy Wails, Margaret Sales, Pat Burke, Henry Tray nore, Mary M‘Williame, Biddy M`Williams, Barney Kelly, John M'Manus, Pat Reynolds, Michael Porter, Thomas Guirk, Sarah Guirk, John Guirk, Francis Guirk, Sarah Guirk, John Naylor, John May, T. S. Saunderson, Peter Mullen, John M•Naughton. ON BOARD THE ENGLAND.—Officers and crew, 22 ; steerage passengers, 68 : 90. On board the United States :—Officers and crew, 24 ; cabin passengers, 2 ; steerage passengers, 48 : 74. Total in the two ships, 164. FIRES.—Last night, shortly before midnight, a fire broke out on the premises in the occupation of Mr. R. llurst, trimming manufacturer, 10, Quaker-street, Spitalfields. The building in which the outbreak oc curred is a substantial erection situate next door to the Castle public•house. Flatnes were first perceived issu ing from the windows of one of the lower floors under neath the workshops by police-constable Wright, 52 H. He instantly gave the alarm, and the family escaped from the burning building. Information of the outbreak was immediately forwarded to Mr. Braidwood, at the Watling-street station, and in a short space of time engines from Watling-street, Jeffery-square, White cross-street, and other etations of the brigade, were upon the spot. For some time, although a plentiful supply of water was furnished to the engine belonging to Messrs. Truman and Hanbury's establishment, which was first at the fire, the flames continued to progress, and it was with difficulty that the fire was got under, and pi evented from extending to the adjoining buildings. How it originated could not be ascertained. Before the above fire was extinguished information was received by the firemen that another outbreak had occurred upon the premises occupied by Mr. Freeman, furniture broker, Crombie's-row, Ci mmcrcial-road East.. A valuable stock was principally destroyed by fire and water. Cause of occurrence unexplained. Insurance unknown. MANCHESTER.—The corporation have completed negotiations with Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., for the pun. cba,qe of the manorial rights of the town, which are esti mated to be worth •18,;551. The average proceeds for the last few years have been 9,2141. 16s. Bd., •arising from tolls, properties, &c. The council, after mature deliberation, have agreed to pay Sir Oswald Mosley the sum of 200,000/. for the whole of his manorial rights and properties, and to mortgage them for the interest of the amount, which is to be paid at the rate of 31 par cent. per annum. They have also agreed to pay off the prin cipal by instalments of not less than 4,0001, and of not more than 6,000!. per annum. By this arrangement it is calculated that the tolls, chief rents, &c., will realise 1,000!. a year more than the sum required to pay the interest. Mr. Stephenson, private secretary to Sir Robert Peel, has been appointed messenger to the Order of the Bath, vacant by the retirement of Mr. Pulman. The more proper designation of the office would be that of reeeirer-geueril and treasurer to toe Order.—Observer. -1 J '.S~I.i~J~~~~~I/ v t-- ASTLEY'S. The doors of the ever-famed Astley's were thrown open last night for another season, and ere ten mi nutes had elapsed, the silence which for two or three weeks past had been suffered to reign triumphant in the body of the theatre, was disturbed by the joyous shouts and whistling of a good humoured and nume rous audience. The house, daring the short recess, has undergone some slight change; and those of our readers who are in the habit of frequenting Astley's will be glad to learn that many improvements which time had, no doubt, suggested, have been introduced for the convenience of the auditory. Crimson cur tains have been added to the back of the boxes, and each tier is decorated and lined with orange and blue upholstery, giving the house a cheering and comfortable aspect. Mr. Batty sustained his former popularity in pro. ducing another new and grand military spectacle, plentifully interspersed with startling and exciting incidents. It is founded on an event which occurred during the disastrous Penin-ular war, and is entitled The Maid of Saragossa; or, the Spanish Amazons. No doubt many who read this notice are familiar with the celebrated painting of the late Sir David Wilkie, representing the defence of Saragossa by the Spaniards against the beseiging of the French army; if so, this will give them an idea of one of the prin cipal scenes is the spectacle, which is taken from this picture, and certainly forms a very effective tableau vivant. The piece opens Kith the retreat its the mountains of a party of Guerillas, who are sum moned by the army stationed in Saragossa to aid them in repelling the attacks of the French, and from scene to scene we arrive at the city walls of Sara gossa, where a terrific encounter ensues-between the two armies. At the moment when the Spanish sob. diers, exhausted by the severity and heat of the en counter, are . about to retreat, they are rallied by the appearance of the Maid of Saragossa, who throws herself into the midst of the fight, and by her heroism and courage reinvigo rates the army of Ferdinand, King of Spain, who is thus enabled to save the city of Saragossa from fall ing into the hands of the French. In the succeeding scenes we see Angostina, the Maid of Saragossa, crowned with laurels for her previous prowess ; hut she forgets the glory of the moment in her grief for the less of her lover, who has fallen into the power of the French. Again she assumes the part of an amazon, and, heading a troop of female warriors, goes forth to her lover's rescue. She has scarcely succeeded, ere another attack is hazarded by the French, and for a second time Angostina, by her prowess end undaunted courage, saves her native city from destruction. These are the principal features of the piece ; but there is an episode introduced, which we have altogether omitted mentioning. It is made up, as episodes generally are at this theatre, of an humble village tradesman forsaking his home and his sweetheart to follow the calling of a soldier. An Irishman, too, is introduced, but why or for what purpose, no one save the author can tell; but perhaps it would not be an Astley's spectacle without an Irishman. The piece was admirably placed upon the stage, and was supported with much spirit and ani mation by a numerous corps dramatiqUe, amongst whom were Mrs. Ismay, who played the heroine, Messrs. Harwood, Lemon, Egan, and Hart. The piece elicited a great deal of applause, and if a little curtailment is made in the dialogue it may keep possession of the stage for five or six weeks. It was followed by the performances in the Cirque Olyrn pique, and Arena of Equitation, which brought be- - fore us a Parisian artist, named Madame Dumos, who is an exceedingly graceful and elegant equestrian; nor must we omit to mention in equal terms of eulogium, a Miss Isabelle, who, though considerably; the junior of Madame Dumos, is nevertheless a clever and accomplished performer. The evening's entertainments terminated with the farce of the Sleeping Draught, the chief character of which was played by Mr. Charles Marsh, who, it will be remembered, was the Clown at Covent-garden last season. He is engaged here as the principal Clown, and there can hardly be a doubt, from the mirth he excited, and the applause he won last night, that he is destined to become as popular on the other as he was on this side of the water. sunREY 771EA7112. Easter has come o'er us again, and with it the usual accompaniments of the spirited proprietress of this theatre—a well set-out table for the amusement of the holiday folks. For the first course we had the drama of Margaret Catchpole, founded on the late work of the Rev. Mr. Cobbold ; for the second, The Irish Tutor, with Miss Heron, the Infant Power, as Doctor O'Toole. And, lastly, a new and magnificent romance, founded on a tale in Blackwood, and dramatised by Mr. T. Townshend, entitled the Spirit Jimmied, or the Moor Maiden and the Demon Sprite of the Golden Spring. Of the first piece little more need be said than this, that it is founded on events of a most singular nature, which took place about the year 1797. Since the publication of Mr. Cobbold's work most, if not all, our readers must be aware that the extra ordinary heroine of the piece was born of humble parents, and underwent the most singular vicissitudes that perhaps ever marked the career of woman. After meeting with many strange adventures to obtain an interview with her lover (a celebrated Captain of smugglers of the last century), she stole a horse, on which she rode to London i'i about eight hours; for this she wai tried and condemned to death at the Bury Assizes, in the year 1797 ; was reprieved, broke out of prison at Ipswich to join her lover, was re taken, sentenced again to death, and her punishment changed to transportation for life. She retrieved her cha racter in Australia, where she distinguished herself in many extraordinary adventures : obtained a free pardon, married a wealthy settler, whe left her sole mistress of an immense fortune; she had one son and two daughters, who received the best education which England could afford, and returned to settle in their native land, to close the eyes of their affectionate parent, who died September 10th, 1841, in the sixty eighth year of her age, deeply lamented and revered by all who knew her. The piece was eminently ef fective, and was announced for repetition every night until further notice, in a house crowded to she ceiling, amid much cheering. Of Miss Heron in the Irish Tutor we cannot say too much. She is certainly a very clever child, imitates the Irish brogue excellently, and is a most excellent imitator in miniature of Power. Her acting delighted all parts of the house, and kept the gods in most excel lent humour. The last piece, The Spirit Jimmied; or, the Moor Maiden, has been got up at great trouble and expense, and promises to re ray the spirited lessee with a golden harvest. £he . scenery is excellent, the dresses in strict keeping with the time in which the occurrences are represented to have taken place, and the music reflects great credit on Loder. The piece was announced for repetition amid great approbation. VICTORIA. The performances at this theatre announced for the Easter recess, commencing yesterday evening, exhi bited no less attraction than usual to the taste of the audience, and their love of thrilling dramatic and domestic incident. For some time. past the adven tures of Margaret Catchpole, the Female Horse stealer, or, as she is more familiarly called, "the Suf folk girl," have been before the public in various ways. If we mistake not, it was a gentleman residing in the county who first presented the public with the par ticulars of her life; and, perhaps, no tale of real life, certainly none originating in a provincial town, ever excited a deeper interest, or enjoyed a more extensive circulation. Besides, however, the original publica tion of the tale, it has, as we have intimated, been presented in various other shapes, though, of course, a good deal condensed; and it would, for this reason, be tedious and useless to give any detailed nceount of the plot in noticing this livintr representation of it on the approp r i a t e b oar d s o f the Victoria. It is well known that the heroine, for such, we suppose, she must he called, notwithstand ing the horse-stealing affair, first signalised herself by escaping from Ipswich gaol, and, on being re-taken, her sentence was commuted to transportation for life; the only way of accounting for the change being ap parently the astonishing behaviour of Margaret in travellieg to London on horseback. Arrived in New South \Vales, the conduct of Margaret and the events that happen to her form a complete climax to her adventures in England. She is carried into the interior of the country by some of the coloured natives ; two of the tribe fight for the possession of the " white maid," and while they are doing so, Margaret escapes. The denouement, whether in all respec's it corresponds to that of the real story we forget, is at last satisfactory, as most of the ter minations of domestic plays. The principal feature in it being a " free pardon of the Suffolk Girl," and her union, after having gassed through so many vicissitudes, with a gentle. 0PP..1 ;rind' urrlP' the .§a• atioo vnbf lit Ps befo rhiCh 'sing se it pro rs. . fitted I fo r Or Wl' bers gin g Tbe ited Aea iter re: At V eit )Ik, left 10 Z `,~