The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-18 00:00:00

THEATRES.

OLYMPIC.
A new burletta, called The Burlington Arcade, was
oduced at this house last night. It is a mere trifle, and
as a trifle it WAS kindly received by the audience. A bar-
ber (Keeley), and a tailor (T. Green), are rivals for the
hand and heart of Miss Clernentina Moss (Mrs. Orger),
an artificial florist, whose language is more artificial than
her flowers, and rivals that of Mrs. Malaprop herself in
the absurdity of its contortions. Larry O'Slack (Mr.
Brougham), a ragged Irishman, whom the beadle Long-
staff (Mr. J. Bland), at first refuses to admit into the Ar-
cade, is alternately furnished with money by each of the
rivals, to keep the other occupied while the eventful
question is popped, until his shaggy head of hair has
been three times cut, and his tatters replaced by a
dandy out-fit, in which condition he makes himself
acceptable to Mrs. Cloud (Mrs. Macnamara), of
the cigar shop. The disappointed hair-cutter, who
had shorn him, bestowing a pot of bear's grease for a dowry.
We cannot call the piece a jeu d'esprit ; it is rather a
spout of vulgarity, and of Cockney slang ; sometimes amus-
ing enough, and sometimes pointless and tiresome. The
merit consists mainly in the scene. It presented the en-
tire Arcade in perspective ; and what with shops and
shopmen, promenaders and customers, the beadle, and the
dirty urchin that when turned away mocks his worship, the
versimilitude was very complete. Considerable applause
was bestowed on the scene, than which nothing of the sort
could be better, and the plaudits were redoubled when the
gasman appeared to light up the lamps of the arcade.
There was little opportunity for acting, except in the as-
sumption of vulgar pretension ; and that was occasionally
so exaggerated in the dialogue that it seemed as if the
author were ambitious of the old epitaph--." I, too
was an Arcadian." ,

POOLE TORY CORPORATION

BA NKRUPTCY.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
It should seem that a Corporation trading in fraud is in
ePct amenable to the Bankrupt law, but that, inasmuch
as the trade is fraud, the operation of this Bankrupt law
is a fraudulent preference. We stated in our last commu-
nication that one moiety of the tithes and real estate would
be extended, but we find that by a late Act of Parliament
the entirety is extradible and by the Sheriff's jury actually
extended to the ci-devant Town-Clerk. Here then is a
clear sweep of the real and personal estate of the Corpora-
tion of Poole into the pocket of one individual, and upon
what ground? because it pleased this Tory Council to pen-
sion off their old Town Clerk upon the public and elect a
new one who should also fatten upon the sweets of office,
and what has been the course adopted ? By the Municipal
Act all the rents and profits of the Corporation should be
carried to " the Borough fund," and in case of insufficiency
the Council is empowered to make a " Borough rate."
Now, thought the Tory Council of Poole, these Reformers
shall have quantum sujficit of Reform ; we will contrive
that our to-be-fittened Town Clerk shall take the Corpo-
rate property, and our quondam Town Clerk shall feed for
the residue of his natural life upon the vitals of the rate
payers, and if these poor deluded Reformers should
grumble, the short answer will be, " Oh, this is the effect of
your Municipal Reform Act." To work therefore they went,
forgetting that " extremes beget extremes ;" the rate
payers, however, as a dernier resort, determined to stop the
supplies, and to such an extent is this feeling of resistance
carried that practically the rates have not been and cannot
be collected. The result is readily anticipated ; a quarrel
between the former and present Town Clerks over the re-
mains of the old Body Corporate which has resulted in the
former carrying it off victoriously—seniores priores ! How
the salary of the Recorder, Town Clerk, and other officers
of the Council, the expense of maintaining the gaol, police
force, and prosecuting offenders are to be met is more than
the Town Council can under the circumstances devise.
But one chance remains for those who wish for the existence
of the place, and thank Heaven ! this is not a mere chance
but a certainty—viz., that on the Ist of November, 1839,
the Tory Councillors of Poole will be reduced to a mino-
rity as incapable of mischief, as they have hitherto been of
doing one useful act.