The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-09 00:00:00

LYCEUM THEATRE,

Last evening we again visited this elegant palace
of amusement, and were even more delighted on this
occasion than we were the first time we witnessed
the Christmas offering of Planch6—the ever welcome
ambassador from the fairy court of Oberon and
Titania—who is acknowledged to be, far and away,
the most elegant and polished, at the same time most
classical burlesque writer of the day. Competitors
he may have—and who has not?—but they all sink
into nothingness when they dare a tilt with him. The
wit and satire of Blanche, though keen, is never
vulgar ; there is none of that low and offensive lan-
guage so prevalent in the efforts of other writers to
be found in any of his successful productions—the
rubicon of wit and sparkling repartee is always gained
but never passed, and hence the secret of all his
triumphs. The King of the Peacocks is, without
doubt, the most magnificent fairy extravaganza that
has ever been produced at this theatre, so renowned
for grandness of style ; we say this, well remembering
the refulgent brilliancy and voluptuous beauty of
The Golden Branch and Theseus and Ariadne. All
that could be done by the liberality of the manage-
ment in the way of taste and splendour has been done ;
and truly the stage seems, what with the dazzling
magnificence of the dresses and appointments and the
gorgeousness of the scenery, a perfect El Dorado.
We have before had to speak in terms of high com-
mendation of the scene painting of Mr. Beverly, and
in this instance he has eclipsed all his former works.
The applause bestowed upon the Pecockian Quadrille
is well deserved ; it is one of the prettiest things we
have seen for a very long time. Madame Vestris
as Argus, the brilliant-eyed, King of the Pea-
cocks ; Miss K. Fitzwilliem, as King Florizel ; Miss
J. Coleman, as Prince Jessarny ; Miss Marshall, as
Fairy Faithful; John Reeve, as the May-fly—and
such a May. fly !—Harley, as the Chinese Junkman,
with a very hard name; Selby, as Soyez-tranquille ;
and Mr. 11. Ilall, are each in their respective parts
excellent. The music which is allotted to each cha-
racter is very neatly given, but especial mention
must be made of the parody on the chorus from
Ilaydee, "The Breeze," the solo part being exquisitely
rendered by Madame Vestris. The house continues
to attract the most fashionable and crowded audiences.
The applause at the fall of the curtain was enthusiastic
in the extreme. Our readers we are sure will thank
us for informing them that early attendance at the re-
ceptions at the Court of his Majesty the King of the
Peacocks is indispensably necessary, as after seven
o'clock every evening standing room even rises to a
premium.

CORN-LAWS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Being a constant reader of your paper, I
have taken the liberty of requesting you to find room
in your valuable journal for the following :
A poor man called to take one of my cottages,
which holds looms and jennies, by hand, at Milmon,
near Rochdale, which I let for el.; the rent was
formerly 91.
Two years since this man gave 3s. 6d. for a peck of
flour. He now purchases the same article, with the
addition of one pound of sugar, one pound of candles,
and one pound of butter„ for the sum,' 35.; 6d. He
has still his former wages. I am very happy to
inform you that working people are looking forward
to the close of the Corn-laws, and in my opinion it
will answer their most sanguine expectations. Excuse
this trouble, and you will oblige
Your obedient servant,
JAMES BUTTERWORTH.
Green Booth Mills, near Rochdale,
January 8, 1849.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Yesterday the British
Museum was re-opened to the public ; it will continue
open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, without
intermission, between the hours of ten and four, until the
Ist of May, and will then be closed till the 7th, when,
on re-opening, the hours will be extended from ten till
seven. The new building, with the exception of the
addition to the Gallery of Antiquities, erecting in lieu
of the Townley Gallery, is complete, and early in the
ensuing month of February the last remaining portion
of old Montague House;fronting Great Russell-street,
will be removed.

DEPOSIT OF FLOUR IN BOND.—A firm at one of
the ports in the west of England has recently made ap-
plication to the revenue authorities to be allowed to de-
posit the very large quantity of 560,0001b5. weight of
flour in bond, under the Grinding Act, for ships' stores,
in lieu of 717,9481b5. weight of wheat to be delivered
from the bonded warehouse, free of duty, being at the
proportion of 781bs. of flour to 1001bs. weight of wheat.
This is one of the largest individual deposits of the na-
ture alluded to which has come under our notice, and is
especially remarkable as being at one of the smaller out-
ports. It appears that a very large number of arrivals
of cargoes of flour have recently taken place at the port
alluded to, from France, and that many more are antici-
pated to take place from the same quarter.
MOST EXTRAORDINARY FEAT.— SPLITTING A
BANK NOTE.—The Governor and Directors of the
Bank of England having been informed of the extra-
ordinary ingenuity of Mr. Baldwin, and that he was
able to split not only a newspaper, but a bank-note, sent
for him in order to test his skill. That his task might
be as difficult as possible, they picked him out one of the
old one-pound Rotes, which are printed upon paper much
_se:aawinneases t
the
former
thinner than the notes of the present day, and told him
to split it if he could. Mr. Baldwin took the note home
with him, and returned it the next day in the state he
had promised. The paper was not in the slightest de-
gree torn, and seemed as though it had but just come
Irons the manufactury, so little was its appearance
affected by the operation. The Directors remunerated
Mr. Baldwin for his trouble, but could not elicit from
him the means he employed. The discovery is con-
sidered of much importance in connexion with the paper
currency of the country.
EMEUTE ON BOARD A CONVICT SUIP.—An etteut
of a very alarming character occurred last week nnul:o.ar_csi
the Sulphur hulk, lying off Woolwich Dockyacrodn,spirse*y
a convict ship. The affair originated in
wrdheor
quartermaster, name
They wore, how-
foorrmsaevdagheylyseivirtraelactoanvqicts on board that vesdsaeiv teobir
had made himself obnoxious to theemr.varne _
d Keens had
ever, led to believe that a
z)Pfr" treir plot, and they ac..
given information to Webb of they beat most uniner-
cordiogly set upon Keene,
twobein g mur -
The prisoners, it guards,
mur-
dered, ers, it being
named Quick and
dark at the time, mistook them for two other
hhei
sno-inaireissebrreoatrgebdt out
th thatt assistance
shi
officers of
Webb and Warren, a •
the ship,
named had been
of whom the plot . originally directed, and, arm-
ingthemselves with troll bars,
IV itney.
made a desperatethem attack
the guards. were upon . severely injured,
and tiered such
Witney su severe injuries -1
as o be hardly
yet out of danger. A filo of the Loyal Marines was at
length brought on board the vessel,and -
the guards were
rescued. three of the prisoners, proved to have been
the ringleaders iu this affair, named Williams, Harris,
and Rodgers, were afterwards brought before Captain
Voules, the superintendent
of the hulks, and sentenced
to receive 50 lashes
each. The sentence was carried
into effect upon all except Rodgers, after receiving
43 lashes, was ordered p't
who,b
by Mr. Dabbs, the resident sur-
geon, to be taken down. Another convict, named Felton,
received 24 lashes at the same time for insolence to one
of the guards.
DEATH or D&. BLACKER, LL.D.—The Rev. Dr.
Blacker, rector of Mullabrack, died on Wednesday last,
in the 71ith year of his age. The union of Mullabrack-
is in the gift of the Primate of Ireland.