The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-25 00:00:00

Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington.

THE GRAND HIPPODROME.
Messrs. Strange and Pullyn promised in the;.l'
preliminary announcements of the opening of the
New Grand Hippodrome, at the Agricultural 11.1i-
novelties of the most astonishing description, eSA
7
most certainly, judging from the private and full
dress rehearsal, which took place last evenitigi'
they will redeem that promise to the ftll'
That " Time Works Wonders" is well knovti,
but it has yet to be ascertained what,
money will not do, when the accomplishraell,"
of a certain great object is worked for with indona'
table energy, perseverance, and an unlimited outlay
of the "circulating medium." Most truly it bee
performed a miracle at the Agricultural
Islington, for now, instead of its ordinary appear.
ance, the interior of the building has been caw
verted into one of the most extensive arenas in Eng"
land. Tiers of seats, rising one above the other, bac°
been erected at either side of the hall, and the
whale of the centre flooring, 300 feet long
and 150 feet wide, has been enclosed and thiekli
covered with tan, thus forming a space for eques-
trian performances, as we have before mentioned,
hitherto unknown. In the centre of the " 5
patent moveable circle, is placed so that withl
five minutes after the " Scenes in the Arena'
have been peformed, the circle is carried
away by the attendants, and then the place
is ready for—what think you, gentle reader ?
Why, steeplechases, chariot races, and, above
all, a grand and knightly tournament ! The
labour and exertion to bring about such a metamor-
phosis must have been something wonderful, and in
expressing our satisfaction we can only reiterate
the encouraging enconiums that were showered on
the spirited lessees yesterday afternoon by the
privileged assembly within the building.
The first part of the entertainment was given in the
circle, and consisted of the performances of Frank
Pastor, the American horseman ; Herr Wellby, the
wierd horseman of the prarie ; Joel Ghee, the great
trick rider ; M. Edward and Madlle. Adele, end
M. Frederic Franconi, of the Cirque Nap°:
leon, Paris. To describe the daring feat:
performed by each of these unrivalled artiste;
would be impossible ; but we may fuse
remark that the display of high training in ti)
beautiful chesnut palfrey " Chanticleer" by Al•
Franconi was a perfect wonder. The docile ere%
ture danced and marched in a manner quite extrs,
ordinary, which elicited the most unbounded !Po.
plause. Then followed an exhibition of vaultier:
by a perfect troup of artistes, and this was sued
ceeded by a chariot race in the great ride
110
capital steeplechase, the exhibition of Crockett, t,
lion tamer, and the great feature of the entertal,
meat—the Tournament. Nothing could exceed t bfi-
.t
brilliancy of this last exhibition. Some notion eft;
may be imagined, when we say that urrer,,D,
of 300 performers took part in the grand affair, e!"11
habited in the most gorgeous costumes. In addltles
to all that we have above enumerated, there 10
a performance on the mammoth organ from the
Great Exhibition of 1862, by Mr. Archer, and the
united bands of the Guards. Summarising 111) "01
whole of the entertainments, we may say it is c)ve be
the most wonderfully extensive ever presented tot ,
British public. That it will prove a gigantic sues
cess is certain ; and with our cordial congratuist'eof
to Messrs. Strange and Pulleyn, we take leave, ;
the Agricultural Hall until to-morrow, 13°1,1%
Day," where one of the largest audiences in Louu°
is sure to be attracted.

A CURIOUS ANECDOTE of the way in which the
A
Emperor gets up his own Opposition is thus relate'
(are we to put faith in the acouracy of the story told F) bl,
the Spectator. :—All the world remembers the famous speec
of Prince Napoleon on the Roman question, which ests'
blished his claim to rank among the foremost orators of the
a
day in France. Many at the time could hardly repress 0
suspicion that, revolutionary as it seemed to be, it was et°/2nr
to order. The following is the history of it. The ErnPerw,„
speaking one day with his Foreign Minister, observed -,','
p:ayedlo/0
him that there was one side of the Roman question that had
not been sufficiently brought out, that of the Part
diplomacy towards endeavouring to procure inter reforta
in the Pontifical States, and
Th 0
turn otherwise
aonpt edars
stgotaodoni
A.eiws writer,,
days
through Rome herself, and asked to have something drawn
up for him accordingly.per
ale
diplomatic
neetehra
ordert'fa.o
rs
w° forwarded
competent competent and confidential
to the Emperor a careful p ic action
upon memoir.
°received and read the • 131.1
owfehetisemelaanpusesder'iaput,lbeae anxious to know something
the author, who knew the destination
uis master
the C o
thaturt oflie Rh :Ind
and behold ! mgr
of its fate. The
dMinister
that
spoke again on the subject to the
tinhc:e:rlaitPirpedf :ound his
Emperor, who said
paper, and that he wished to keep it by him, Some tiro
°
precison Oupeeanrilnyg
aotnefdually
lheinsgMthonjuitctaur;
ilulnNevehiNchapothleioans,traNnz idsetshiustthheasollLianisitnesey:
scilapuluaeerauescstheitodonolhsditdme sb3al
debated
gettingePd—tihnaaiu
publicth pbryo sa
epaun,
ed
tleyon;
vocates. All is not, however, always unreal in the Pi'
and perhaps a Minister, warned by his master that the Ito'
Feria( policy was about to change, and that he himself raus
fall, has received at the same time gracious leave to defelld
himself as best he might, The conduct of the Oppositiort
during the present session is generally considered as havies
been hitherto very poor, and Emile 011ivier, in particular,
appoufiuptoedlitiacdal
is deemed hy many a regular sell for the Liberal partY;
Thiers' reappearance in debate is not thought to have bee
a successful one. A er°
AYOUNG ITALIAN POET named Antonio Bocea. 1
has just written a (llama, with the French actress Rash
for its heroine. Madame Sadonestri, a rival of Math'
Ristori, will sustain, it is said, the principal character.os
THE MOST SINGULAR THING CONNECTED 113 a
PRIZE-FIGHTING.—The fact that a strong-trained 0;4
" finely-conditioned " man will often feint before bay'
exchanged a single blow. defl
Al M. GOUNO S NEW OPERA, '°Mireille," folio 0.
upon •
a ProvenD cal legend, has been purchased by gesesfe
Boosey and Sons, according to one account for £2OOl
cording to another for £BOO. Which is it ?