The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-03 00:00:00

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.

Herold's opera Le Pre aux Clercs was produced here
last evening with Madlle. Chatton as Isabella, M. Octave
as Mergy, and M. Coudere as Comminge. The music
of this opera has long been familiar to .the musical
public, and the plot is well known to our playgoers from
an English version which was produced by the English
Opera company at the Adelphi, shortly after the de-
struction of the old English Opera House. M. Octave,
as Mergy, gave force and character to the portrait of
the proud, irascible Bearnese gentleman, to whom even
the naming of his love seems almost a profanation. His
singing of the air, " 0 ma tendre emit !" was finished
and full of feeling, and in the concerted music, through-
out the opera, his sweet voice and correct style told
well. Couderc, as usual in all his impersonations, gave
strong colour and character to the part of Comminge,
making it a finished histrionic performance. The
charming Charton was the Isabelle, acting with her
usual graceful naivete, and singing with true feel-
ing and finished execution. In her grand air,
at the commencement of the second act, "Q jours d'inno-
cence," in the romance in the first act, " Souvenirs du
jeune age" (an air as popular in France as " Home,
sweet home" was in England), and in the trio in the
third act with Mergy and Marguerite (which was en-
cored) Mdlle. Charton displayed all those winning graces
of voice and style which have rendered her so great a
favourite in Brussels, in Paris, and now here. The mi-
nor parts were all well sustained by M. Sayer, M.
Baguet, Mdlle. Guichard, and Mdlle. Medial. M.
Sayer, especially, infused much grotesque humour into
his character of Cantarelli. Nothing could be better
than the orchestral accompaniments, and in the chorus
there is a manifest improvement, both in the body of
sound and in the precision of the execution. The finale
to the second act was given in a style worthy establish-
ments of much higher pretensions. The theatre was
fully and fashionably attended, and the performance
was honoured with the presence of her Majesty and
Prince Albert.

OPERA. COMIQUE, ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.—Her
Majesty and Prince Albert honoured those perform-
ances with their presence last evening. The royal suite
comprised the Marchisness of Douro, the Hon. Miss
Paget, the Earl of Morley, General Wemyss, and Colonel
Gordon. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, at-
tended by Lady Augusta Bruce, Lord James Murray,
and Sir George Couper, also honoured the theatre with
their presence. There were also present his Royal High.
ness the Duke of Brunswick, the Russian Ambassador
the Turkish Ambassador and suite, the French Ambas-

sador and suite, the Marquis of Douro, the Marquis and
Marchioress of Downshire, the Countess of Essex and
Miss Johnson, La Comtesse de Landsfeldt, Earl snd
Countess Granville, Viscount Clifden, Viscount and Vis-
countess Canning, Viscountess Newport cnd the lion.
Mrs. Anson, Lord and Lady Ashburton, Lady Frederic
an Miss reauclerc, Lord Cranstoun, Lord and Lady
Charles Wellesley, Lord Cranbourne, Lard Chief
Justice Clerk and Miss Clerk, Lady Quentin, Lady and
Miss Macdonald, the Hon. Fradcrie Byng, Mr. and Mrs.
Matheson' and party, Mrs, Standish Standish, Mr. and
Mrs. Oliver Massey, Mr. and Mts. John Stanley, Sir
Henry Webb, Mr. Edward Mice, &c.
We' are requested to state Mr. Pigott was acciden-
tally absent from the division in favour of Mr. Ewart's
Bill for the Abolition of Capital Punishment.
Loss OF TUE FRENCH GOVERNMENT STEAM..
PACKET RUA/518E8.—We learn from Malta, by the Over-
land Mail, that the Odin steam-frigate, the Hon. Cap-
tain Pdham, had arrived there on the 26th of April,
from Trapani, conveying the officers and some of the
crew (43 in number) of the ithamses, and 60 passengers
taken out of the same vessel, which had been totally
wrecked at Trapani. It appears that the Rhamses lett
Malta on the morning of the 23d for Trapani (where
the Palermo mail is landed) and Marseilles. She reached
Trapani on the 24th, and was leaving again when the
Odin made her appearance from Palermo, with a num-
b?r of Sicilian fugitives (among whom were most of the
members of the late Provisional Government of Sicily
established at Palermo), and, in order to receive some
on board, desirous as they were of getting to republican
France, the Rhamses stopped her engines. By some
bungling, however, the French steamer got upon the
rocks outside, after receiving on board this additional
freight, and it coming on to blow hard on the following
day, became a totri wreck, when Captain Pelham, very
considerately, volunteered to convey the officers and
crew, and the sixty passengers she had on board, to
Malta, where they arrived in time to go by the French
and English steamers leaving for Marseilles on the 26th.
Major-General Bunbury, the gallant Commander-
in-Chief at Jamaica has been suffering severely from in-
disposition; but we are glad to find by our last advice'
that he was rapidly recovering.
The Rev. Montagu Bally, of Christ Church,
Oxford, has been appointed domestic chaplain to the
Earl of Jersey.
BRUSSELS, MAY I.—Mrs. Cuvier, wife of the cele-
brated savant of that name, has just died in her 87th
year, at the Jardin des Plantes.
ARRIVALS OF SPECIE.—The following arrivals of
specie have just taken place. The ship Southampton
from Calcutta has brought 1 case of specie, consigned
to order; the Camperdown, from Calcutta and the
Cape of Good Hope respectively, has brought
1 box of specie, individually addressed, 2 boxes
consigned to a firm of eminence in the metropolis,
and also 13 boxes of specie, consigned to order;
the Competitor, from Port Adelaide, Australia,
a large quantity of copper ore, 15 blocks of copper,
and 2 cases of specie, consigned to the Australian Bank;
the Kilblain, from Canton and the Cape, 1 box of specie
addressed; the Wellesley, from Calcutta, Madras, and
St. Helena, 4 boxes of specie, consigned to three eminent
firms in the metropolis, and 1 package consigned to
order; the Australia, from Hobart Town, 2 casks of
specie, consigned to separate parties; the Eleanor, from
the Mauritius, 1 box of bullion, addressed; the Mary
Ann, from Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, 1 package
of specie, addressed, and 1 package, consigned to a firm
in the metropolis; and the Robert Henderson' from the
same place, 3 casks of copper, addressed, and twoboxes
of specie, consigned to two separate parties.
BRIDGES.—The bridges are variously constructed,
some consist of a single arch, others of three or more
arches, and some are merely a series of stone piers,
with large stone slabs laid across them, as described
by us in our account of the famous bridge at Foo-
chow-foe. Some bridges are built of red granite, and
others of a greyish marble, cut into blocks five
feet or more in length, which aro laid alternately
end-ways and cross-ways. The arches are very
high, are semi-circular, circular and polygons in shape,
and the bridges have steps at either end. Some are very
handsome structures, particularly one a few miles to the
west of Pekin, which is composed of white marble, beau-
tifully cut and ingeniously devised. The balustrades are
composed of seventy small pillars, on either side inter-
mixed with marble tablatures, carved with birds and
animals, foliage and flow ers —China and the Chinese.
TRIUMPHAL ARcnEs.—Triumphal arches are very
numerous throughout the Celestial Empire, and adorn
almost every city; some are but indifferently con-
structed, and built of wood, but others are well worthy
of observation. These arches stand from twenty to five-
and- twenty feet in height, some are ornamented with
human figures, and others with birds, beasts, and gro-
tees:lna animals, standing out in bold relief upon the
masonry, while imaginary animals ornament the roof.—
China and the Chinese.
It is undertsood that the bullion which went out
to the United States by the packet which left Liverpool
on Saturday last amounts to about 83,0001.