The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-29 00:00:00

ROYAL

'PERA

Last evening Mr, Balfe's opera, "The Bohemian Girl,"
was repeated at the above theatre, for the purpose, we pre-
sume, of introducing to the London public a new candidate
for operatic honours in the person of Miss Anna Hiles, a
young lady hitherto unknown to fame. Miss Anna Hiles,
although apparently free from the nervousness which too
frequently paralyses executive power, especially upon such
a very trying occasion as that immediately under notice, did
not exhibit any indications of that warm, impulsive, artis-
tic sensibility, without which no training, however good—
no care, however scrupulous and conscientious—can possibly
produce a great result. But still Miss Anna Hiles was suc-
cessful, if applause and rodemands constitute success; and
we really believe that in less pretentious parts than that of
Arline, in "The Bohemian Girl," Miss Hiles might prove a
valuable acquisition to the Royal English Opera Company.
Mr. NV. Harrison was applauded as much as ever in the
representation of Thaddeus (his original character), when
encorded in the two sengs, " When other lips" and " When
the fair land of Poland."
Mr. W. Weiss was simply complimented for his de-
lightful rendering of " The heart bowed down," and the
opera was received throughout with great favour, though
the audience was enthusiastic rather than numerically
strong.

The Marquis of Hastings has arrived at Long's
Hotel.
The Marquis de La Valette arrived at Albert-gate
House yesterday from Suffolk, and will leave town to-day

for Paris.
The Earl and Countess of Craven and the Ladies

Craven left town a few days since for Ashdown Park,

Berks.
The Dowager Lady Garvagh, Lord Garvagh, and
the Hon. Miss Canning have left Portman-square for

Italy,
General Le Comte and Madame Laschevskoy and
family have left the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn-street, for

Paris.

Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. D. G. Finch has
lett Fenton's Hotel for Packington Hall, Warwickshire.
Colonel Stanton and Mrs. Stanton have arrived
at the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn.street, from New York.
Captain and Mrs. Cobham have arrived at Fen-
ton's Hotel from Eastbourne, Sussex. _

tiTHE DISTRESS IN LANCASHIRE.--A meeting of
the inhabitants of the parish of St. James's, Westminster,
was held to-day at the Vestry Hall, Piccadilly. The lead-
ing inhabitants were present, and at the close of the pro-
ceedings a committee was formed for the purpose of collect•

ing subscriptions.
The Concert of National Melodies, with band of
20 harps and chorus of 400 voices, is summoned to take
place in St. James's Hall, on Wednesday evening next,
Dec. 3. On this occasion the second part of the concert
will consist entirely of Moore's Irish National Melodies.
The performance will be under the direction of Mr. Bene-
dict.

MR. GEORGE TURPIN'S BENEFIT.—The annual
benefit of Mr. George Turpin, the gentlemanly and experi-
enced Box Bookkeeper of the Haymarket Theatre, is one
that always'comes to be regarded as a great theatrical
event. In announcing that this evening, which is identi-
fied with the name of one who has so long been connected
with the Theatre, is that of Wednesday next, December 3,
we sufficiently increase the probabilities of this being one of
the most crowded houses of the season. Mr. Turpin is so
highly respected by such a large class of friends that the
only difficulty he is likely to experience in the matter is that
of finding for them adequate accommodation.
THE FIRST STEAMER IN ENGLISH WATERS.—

Several letters have appeared recently in the columns of
our contemporary the Glasgow Herald, in which the hon-
our of putting the first steamer on English waters is claimed
(and rightly claimed) for the Scotch shipbuilders, but the
writers of these letters do not agree as to the particular
vessel to which the honour is especially due, the Margery
and the Caledonia being both named. In one of the let-
ters referred to the following paragraphfromthveouGr of thereenoe
Advertiser of May 12, 1857, is quoted in fa
claims of the Margery This vessel was taken south,
along the east coast of Scotland. When she reached the
Thames the English fleet were at anchor ; she passed
close. The extraordinary apparition excited a great com-
motion among officers and men. None of them had ever
seen a steamer before, and by some of them she was
taken for a fireship. She was hailed by the nearest man of
war, and ,being answered that she was a steamer, built at
Dumbarton, on the Clyde, a seaman from Dumbarton
(alive in 1857) ran along the deck of the man-of-war,
shouting " Hurrah for Scotland ; Dumbarton for ever 1"
In corroboration of this statement we beg to add that the
steamship statistics of the Thames clearly show that the
Margery was the first steamer which appeared in that
river. The Margery was built here in 1814 by Mr. Wm.
Denny, sen., the father of those eminent shipbuilders our
townsmen, the Messrs. Denny, for Mr. Andrew Shearer,
of West Kilpatrick. She was 56ft. long, and 19ft. in
breadth over all. In leaving for London she was taken
through the Forth and Clyde Canal, and coasted up to
London. It was on this voyage that she passed through
the Sleet, and created so much surprise. The Dumbar-
ton seaman referred to in the paragraph quoted was John
Richmond, who in his latter years was employed in the
shipbuilding yard of Messrs. William Denny and Brothers,
and died a year or two ago. We have heard the old man
narrate the circumstances of the appearance of the Margery
among the fleet, and tell of his own exuberant pride when
he learned that the strange vessel was from Dumbarton.
His own version of the story was that he shouted " Scot-
land for ever, and Dumbarton in particular." The Margery
appears to have been sent to London towards the close of
the year in which she was launched, and continued for
many years to ply as a passenger steamer on the Thames,
till finally she was broken up not many years ago, and
where she was held in great repute as the pioneer steam
vessel.—Dumbarton Herald,
OLD MR. FLEMING TWICE MOBBED AT GREENOCK.
—The Greenock Advertiser of yesterday says that on Tues-
day afternoon, about half-past four o'clock, old Mr. Flem-
ing landed at the Steamboat Quay, and being recognised
instantly, was followed up East Quay-lane by a mob of
blackguards, who jostled him and used most offensive lan-
guage. A number followed him to the railway platform,
but the officials prevented the entrance of others by keeping
all out who had no tickets. They took Mr. Fleming under
their protection until the departure of the 4.40 train, in
which he left amid the hootings of the despicable charac-
ters who had managed to reach the platform. Yester-
day, we regret for the credit of the town to say, the
scene was repeated. Mr. Flaming, on his way to Dun-
oon, arrived here at ten o'clock, and proceeded to the
steamboat quay. Ho was again recognised, and obliged
to seek refuge in the passengers' waiting room, which was
soon surrounded by a large and infuriated mob. The quay
policeman sent for assistance, and the inspector, two ser-
geants, and a dozen constables proceeded to the spot, and
kept guard on the waiting room until the arrival of the
steamer Alma at noon. A lane was then formed for his
exit, but a rush was made, and the police and Mr. Fleming
were jostled so much that the latter was got on board with
great difficulty. It is said that during the crush the police
were obliged to use their batons, and that after Mr. Flem-
ing got on board the steamer pieces of coal were thrown at
him. He, however, received no injury, the only parties
hurt being some women and children who were severely
crushed by the crowd.
An application was made yesterday to the Pre-
sident of the Civil Tribunal under the following circum-
stances. The applicant, M. Hortensius de St. Albin, is
proprietor of the house 36, Rue de Bondy, and the adjoin-
ing premises have recently been let by MM. Bourgeois,
their proprietors, to M. Harel, director of the Folies-Dra-
matiqucs, who has commenced building a theatre there, the
application states, without observing the regulations im-
posed by law and custom respecting party walls, and greatly
to the injury of his (M. do St. Albin's) house. The apyli-
cant therefore demanded that a professional man should
be appointed to examine and report on the state
of the new building with a view of providing
a remedy if necessary. The application was op-
opposed by MM. Bourgeois and Harel, who stated that the
plans of the theatre had been submitted to the Prefect of
Police and sanctioned by him. Notwithstanding that decla-
ration, however, the President appointed an architect to
examine end report as demanded. Another application
was made to the same tribunal for the appointment of pro-
fessional men to estimate the damage done to the premises
and stock of a bird dealer named Chopard, in whose shop,
on the Quaid des Orfevres, an explosion of gas took place,
a fortnight ago, through the imprudence of a workman em-
ployed by the gas company. After hearing counsel on
both sides, the President appointed M. Dommey, architect
of the Palace of Justice, with power to call in a bird- dealer
to assist him in estimating the damage done to the stock,
consisting chiefly of foreign birds, great numbers of which
had either been killed or had escaped.
During the last faw evenings many of the news-
paper vendors established in the small kiosques on the
Boulevards have been victimised by two well-dressed
thieves. One placed himself at the opening, and asking
for a couple of papers put down a 20f. piece, and requested
change. The money was counted out by the unsuspecting
dealer, when the thief hastily caught it up, together with
his gold piece, and bolted off across the road, followed by
his accomplice, who stood close behind him to prevent any
other person coming up to interfere with the operation.
The Chiasso diligence was attacked on the 23d,
on the Swiss territory, by a band of 18 brigands, chiefly
deserters from the Italian army. Count and Countess
Melzi, of Milan, being among the passengers, they were
robbed of all their money, except 2,000 f. in gold and a few
jewels, which the countess seertted about her person.
When the miscreants bade her give up whatever jewels
, she might have, she pointed to her little daughter whom
she held I
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Tdesisted
Importing tea without colour on the leaf pre-
vents the Chinese passing off inferior leaves as in the usual
kinds. Horniman's Tea is uncoloured, therefore always
good (Tao, Sold in packets by 2,280 agents,