The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-05 00:00:00

.kIfUSESItItTTS,

TuEArnt 80y4r.-4LTThepinifomirne at thi's plane fin-
proves' wonderfully uinfil retittikibn,- aetl it is likely to
become as popular as its. ri;'af ta.1:11 fieighlibUY, "Little
' 86-Ficp." The action of the cops s tkr 60(4 perfect,
and the 4atieia original'and'pic,..uicsque. Path& ferpect,
ind 664; th# phatorrifirg at this theatre undoubtedly beam'
the palm: arid: *ltholiith the ballet at the A'mphitheatre
is far above mediocrtil, g tingt, vie think, succumb to
that of its royal brother in thestyare; The harlegtiinade,;
too, is excellent, the pantomimists beim n'asv well upin
thgir mirth-inspiring, care-dispelling btisfiress, Since
ot: ' lest Peace the theatre has been crowded nightlrp and,
the andien4S- have.testifled their pleasure at the general
getting up of a:m.l/1-66' in. the most enthusiastic manner'
ROYAL Am PHITHEAtai.-,:i" Little 80-Peep" in;
creases its popularity at each repferentatitm,. and is
nightly attended by delighted audienceS, Th'clinge
which a Christmas Pantomime produces in file &cite-
; quer of a theatre is scarcely less magical than the
i infernal changes of the pantomime itself. We no
Toligef tont for "it beggarly account of empty boxes,"
but hale' iristead rows of smiling faces, a pit full of
noisy rebels " firoth the gloomy court f care," and a
gallery such as vie &ate nof attempt to describe, and are,
in' fadt, almost afraid, to Pict 'e e'en in imagination,
as ft is sb' intimately associated it/ ear minds with
hair-breadtl9 esdapbeffehf suffocation, dislocation, and
other mishaps svithont termination.- There are; how- '
ever, other changes scaretit. less wonderful thin that
we have just noticed, which the Christmas pantomime
lags out in that emporium of dust, Cdbsebs, and tinsel--
ware--.2-Alre theatre. There is a change in the audience
so greet thlit a stranger might doubt the evidence of his
senses, and retae• to ,teqefe that Mr. Blank, sen., as
seen at a represettiaVoili Of ifweet, was the identical
Mr. Blank, sen., who is indigeri'ni,.. himself with a fit of
such uproarious laughter at "The grand Local Comic
Christmas Pantomime." These trantfoiiieitiitn are so
evident at the Amphitheatre, that we could noir refrain;
from passingly alluding to them. The scenery is sc'
i gorgeous and effective,. that the success of the piece
inrglit s:afelS; fie left to that alone ; but there is, besides,
the hallef,, antler the direction of Miss Bramah, and
the harlequinade; eterintended by Messrs. Foster and
Appleby, making, altogettef, it Christmas treat which
has never been surpassed at this of any other theatre in
the town. . __

ROYAL COLOSSEUM.—Since our last notice of "'Ale
13`eatd," the Coloeseum has been crowded nightly with
Anthill au'diences, Under the direction of Mr. and
Mrs. Batillei the carps de ballet have attained a degree
of perfection that *o'nld' do, credit to any theatre in
town, whilst Mr. Harrison, the Clown; has brought his
own department to a similar satisfactdri condition, As
for the story or opening of the pantomime, if its been
so judiciously arranged as to avid the fault, so common
to these burlesques, of tiring the patience of the auditory
by being timidly extended. Mr. S. W. Lawler, who
1 leads the "snpernataals," sustains his exalted situation
With' gireat fidelity:and hitnicur. The other individuals
wird ale dbilheenedi i'n' the teneporag resuscitation and
final overthfoir'et flie..tyrannicaf Rue Beard, are also
well fitted to their &Rhone'. The scenery' is extremely
beautiful, and the whole &fait rehinf of the pantomime
reflects great credit upon the resctria of the establish-
ment and the liberality of Mr. Heath.
..
HENGLER'S CIRQUE VARIETE.—It iS very 0,6110E1
that the occasion requires us to chronicle the failure of
any of the many ventures which Mr. Charles Hengler
has Made since he has established himself in the good
ophiion of the public of this town. His present Christ-
mas gan'fontriiine has proved, as we have before stated in
these columnS, ere nuctonbted and indisputable success.
That success was wet' *flied: The spectacle was of
the most gorgeous descrilitiofif baring been produced
reLmidless of expense, and on a seAr of grandeur and
itibertifiberice in perfect keeping with eS'e' character of
the estaßrit*ent. Thousands bare visited Valentine
and Orson since its list production ; and from' the
intrinsic excellence of th',l piece itself, we confidently
anticipate for it a long and successful run.
THE PANTOMIME AT THE ADELPIff TIVEATRE.—The
Christmas pantomime at this house is drawing crowded
and ,delighted audiences every evening. The ,tiblie of
this very well got-up and splendidly-managed represeir.
tation is "Prince Peerless, who was turned into an
Eagle." The machinery, transformations, incidents,
feats, • and the performances generally are very good.
The scenery is admirable, and the entire pantomime is
ode of the best ever witnessed at this house, Go and
see if.
WINDSOR Nell& MENAGERIE.—Edmonds', late ,
Wombwell's, Menagerie is announced to arrive here
at noon on Tuesday next, from Prescott making a great
display? with a team of war citliels and elephants,
driven tanderri by the Champion lion tamer of Great
Britain. The exhibitic'n' is' also accompanied by two
specimen of that extraordiorify race of men, the Zulu
Kaffirs. Fourteen thousand persons visited Wombwell's
Menagerie at Bolton, on Tuesday and lifedintsday last.

A SHARK AND A SEAL.—A bottle-nose shark wite
caught a few nights' since in Christchurch Bay, in a
sprat net, and damaged the fishing smack with its tail
before it was killed. It was seven feet long. A seal
was shot a short time since at the back of the Isle of
Wight. Two of them were together basking close to
the beach.

MR. COBDEN ON THE CIANCtfE Or ALCIIEILS.—Mr.
Cobden, writing from Algiers on the Dfth of December,
says : " The weather here is a complete contrast to
what you are experiencing. On Christmas Day the
English residents met at church, and on coming away
everybody remarked, ' How warm it is !' We have
green peas every day for dinner, and ripe strawberries,
and beautiful roses and flowers in'the gardens. With
good British steamers to Marseilles we ought to be only
seventy-two hours front London. It is a wonderful
change of climate with so short a time and distance."
A STRANGE TEXT.—In one of the Aberdeen churches,
on Sunday last, a young preacher somewhat astonished
the congregation by giving out as his text the last four
verses of the first chapter of the Ist Book of Chronicles
—" The dukes of Edom were : duke Timna, duke Aliah,
duke Jetheth, duke Aliolibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
'duke Kenaz, duke Tolman, duke Mibzar, duke Magdiel,
duke Irani. These are the dukes of Edom." Though
the text was, as an intelligent lady of the old school
remarked, " gey affectit kin," it was very well handled—
the burden of the lesson being—Who were these men ?
what has been the influence of their lives ? and what,
brother, will be the influence of your life and mine ?
Aberdeen Herald.
A SCENE IN THE SOUTH SHIELDS COUNCIL.—A fine
scene of uproar and confusion occurred in South Shields
Cauncil on Wednesday. An excited councillor named
Young, a Surgeon, bad been inveighing against the
town improvement committee for allowing the roads
to become impassable with "slush" and mud, and
had twice, in the course of his harangue, Imentioaed
the name of his .Satanic majesty, by wav of Ovine
force to his argument, when Mr. Tait quietly reminded
him that the unswept snow in front of his own
door had been a :great nuisance to pedestrians. Mr.
Young fired up mightily at this rebuke, and told
the speaker to his face that he was a "liar." Such
unbecoming language had never been heard in the
council before; and the mayor town-clerk, and nearly
every councillor in the room, demanded that the words
should be recalled. Mr. Young doggedly refused to
retract the expression ; and when Mr. James corrobo-
rated Mr. Tait's charge, Mr. Young retorted, "It's a
lie." The council broke up in great disorder; and it
remains to be seen what steps the Mayor will take to
enforce his authority in the chair, and vindicate the,
character of the body over which he presides.—/Vete-
castle Chronicle.

THE IRON-PLATED FRIGATE DEFENCE.—The large
iron-plated frigate ordered by the Government of Messrs.
Palmer, Brothers, Jarrow-upon-Tyne, is in course of
construction at the works of these gentlemen, and is
now making very rapid progress, and, though inferior
in size to the Warrior, she promises to be equally for-
midable in proportion to her bulk. Upwards of 1,000
men are at present constantly employed upon her, and
they work almost under cover, while the whole exterior
of the fabric is lit up by gas, so that the workmen may
prolong their labours after sunset. Notwithstanding
all the efforts which are being made to hurry on to
completion this gigantic undertaking, it will be fully
four. months before the work . will be -complete. A
government inspector. is in attendance in the yard to see
that the timber which underlies the iron plates, and
which consists of Indian teak, is perfectly seasoned.
MADAME PICCOLOMINI.— A Tuscan correspondent,
describing a visit to that late favourite of the British
public, Maria Piccolomini, now the Marchesa della
Fargua, says :—" I was during a fortnight at a charm-
ing villa, three miles from Siena, the residence of the
parents of our beloved and most celebrated artist, Maria
Piccolomini, now Marchioness della Fargua, of the
Dukes Caetani, and it was by a miracle that this dear
creature did not find herself in tumult and great peril
on the return of the Swiss, headed by that assassin, the
too infamous Schmidt., in the city of Pieve, of which I
will speak by and by. When I arrived at the Villa
Piccolomini I found all the family reunited. Her sister
Laura had, on the Bth of October, married a young
Sienese, twenty-three years old, very rich, who possesses
divers villas and a' beautiful palace in Siena. An heir
to the family of La Fargua is expected in April."
TILE RECORDER OF HULL AND TIM, PRESS.—Mr.
S. Warren, the recorder of Hull, has, during the several
years which he has occupied the post. invariably, at
each of the quarter sessions, delivered a lengthened
charge to the grand jury touching upon the principal
legislative matters affecting the community at large, also
the state of crime in the country, and the influence of
the reformatory movement in checking, juvenile depravity.
The past year having been one of considerable general
interest, the recarder's charge to the grand jury, at the
Epiphany quarter sessions, which commenced at Hull
on Thursday, was looked forward to with no small
degree of interest, and the spacious court at the Town-
hall was crowded in every part. What was the
disappointment, however, when no charge was delivered,
the recorder contenting himself with half-a-dozen words,
having reference merely to the press, and then dismissing
the grand jury to their duties, the whole affair not
having occupied more than four or five minutes. The
greatest sensation was at once manifested throughout
the court,' and various conjectures were made as to the
cause which had led the learned gentleman to be so
brief in his remarks. At the last sessions Mr. Warren
delivered a lengthy charge in which he referred to no
less than 154 acts of Parliament passed during the pre-
ceding session, and which occupied nearly an hour in
delivery. This lengthened charge called forth from two
local papers a very severe castigation, the writers sug-
gesting that the time of the gentlemen composing the
grand jury (being merchants and commercial men)
might ne more profitably employed than in listening to
the dry recital of 154 acts of Parliament, which could
but affect them in a slight degree, if at all. It is pre-
sumed that, taking the press as the exponent of the
opinions of the town, the recorder has decided for the
future-to refrain from elaborate c'.arges.
SINGULAR CASE OF CONCEALMENT OF Sys.—Last
week died in Rigby's-yard, Selioles, Wigan, aged 97, a
woman, whose name is believed to have been Betty
Lavin. For about 50 years Betty has resided in Wigan,
and during the whole of that period she has been known
as John Murphy, having
,appropriated the garb and
assumed the habits of a man, and this so successfully,
that none discovered the deception. During her resi-
dence in Wigan she has followed the occupation of a
hawker, and as such has become known to a large circle
of customers ; she has also been on the relieving officers'
books for the last twelve months, and having been ill,
she has been visited by Mr. Eaton, union surgeon. To
aallndt,he se
what she i s
stillha s bine eonr knownsilaars, the In
she
her disease inform any person of the disguise she had so
long assumed. As John Murphy she lived and died, as
didan not John
previous c Murphy,
N';o l o
John Murphy her death was registered by the surgeon,
and it was only when the final offices previous to rri
ment were being performed that her sex was discovered.

LATEST NEAVS.

(BY BRITISH AND IRISH MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.)

FRANCE.

PARIS, Jan. 4.
The Monitor,- announces the death of Don
Fernando de Bourbon at "Vienna.

The Constittdirnmel says such bonds of the
Turkish loan as may not be subscribed for on the
sth of JUnuary will be taken by a company of
bankers.-

71:VE FRENCH FUNDS.
PARIS, Jan. 4,3.3 a p.rn-

The Bourse has been very dull. The final
quotations of Rentes were 6.7.&5, or I.oe. higher
than' yesterday.

THE PRESENCE OF THE FRENCH FLEET
AT META.

The diplomatic correspondence between France
and England, on the presence of the French fleet
at Gaeta, is said to be most unsatisfactory.

ARMISTICE AT GAETA.
BERLIN, Jan. 4.

A telegram has been received here from Naples
dated January 3, according to which negotiations
had been opened between the Sardinian Govern-
ment and King Francis 11. for the conclusion of
an armistice of longer duration.