The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-18 00:00:00

66 4:- 7:- MAY 18, 1849.

SEIZURE Of AN ILLICIT DISTILLERY.—Yesterday,
from information received, Mr. John Worrall, Mr. John
Canning,
proceeded
andMr.Thtoo a mashoCursees, No. 4,
sfield
, officerssmitohclnland
Revenue, place,
Hackney-road, and, having gained admission, in a back
room they found a large copper still, set in brickwork,
in full operation, with spirit running from the worm at
the time. A large quantity of spirits prepared for send-
ing out was also found on the premises, of a very un-
usually high strength, being 60 per cent. over proof, and
molasses wash fermenting for the purpose of continuing
the operation. Besides these articles, there were the
usual fittings and apparatus used in illicit distillation,
and capable of carrying on an extensive trade. A van
was procured, and the seizure was conveyed to the Inland
Revenue warehouse in Broad-street.
[ADYERTISEMENT.]—A most Miraculous Cure of
a Bad Leg of Sixty Years' duration by Holloway's Ointment
and Pills.—Mr. Barker, of 5, Graham s-place, Drypool, at the
age of 18, had a breaking out on one of his legs, which ulti-
mately formed into an ulcerous sore, and increased in severity
until he was 80 years old, when it entirely took away his
power of walking ; at last, after seeking relief
Oininvtaminenftoransdo
pmi Pills,eataeyl
ya
,nydteha
atrht hss
,e
he
ise
now
had
enabled los
wa
have
well as most men of
50 years of age.—Sold by all Druggists, and at Professor Hollo-
way's Establishment, 244, Strand, London.
e invaluable d recourse
Medicines rse
to
w Ha ok la
THE SOUTH LONDON FLORICULTURAL • SOCIETY.
—The May meeting of the members of this society,
and of the competitors for the prizes awarded by the
judges, took place yesterday in the Surrey Zoological
Gardens. The meeting was a numerous one, and the
specimens exhibited of flowers were of a first-rate
character ; perhaps, better than at any previous show
of the society. The roses were particularly fine, both
in the colours of the flowers and the size of them.
The pelargoniums were also of the highest class. A
great number of medals were awarded. The winner of
the large gold Victoria medal, for the best collection
of miscellaneous plants, was Mr. Cole ; of the gold
Adelaide medal, Mr. Bruce. In class 2, the gold Ade-
laide medals were won by Messrs. Pamplin and Sons,
and by Mr. Beck. In the evening the usual entertain-
ment of the gardens took place, and in addition to the
concert, the storming of Badajoz and the electric light
were among the attractions in the long bill of fare of
thr proprietor.
Good intentions will never justify evil actions; nor
will good SJ; lens ever justify evil intentions—Eliza
Cook's Journal.
Tn Huddersfield, seventy-
AVOIDING A PAEISIT.,_ field for spade
five members have taken an eighty-r..._
-I' of work
cultivation. Whenever enever any members are
they receive
a ticket for six or twelve days' k
work, a.._
are thus
.preventedgoing on the parish. There , --
such societies the are three the
an town. learned to 15, s

LITERATURE.
THE SEA LIONS ; or THE LOST SEALERS.

By J. F. Cooper. 3 Vols.
A nautical romance, by the author of the " Red
Rover" and the " Pilot," will be warmly welcomed
by a vast majority of readers. Mr. Cooper has of
late years wandered so far into the labyrinthine
mazes of the American forest, that his sailor friends
had cause to fear that he had for ever abandoned the
blue waters. Still the change was not generally re-
gretted. The forest scenes and characters were so
vigorously, and yet so simply described in his pages,
that the denizens of London were for the time trans-
ported into
" Some wild Savannah where man had never been,"
as effectually as Mr. Banvard can transport them to
the banks of the Mississippi. Change of scene is as
beneficial to the mental as it is to the bodily energies
and for this very refreshing and delightful change the
readers of modern fashionable novels and political
pamphlets were greatly indebted to Mr. Cooper.
We listened with interest while he narrated to us the
history of " Satanstoe," we learned with pleased
curiosity the mysteries of " chain-bearing," with de-
light and wonder we followed on the footsteps, and
watched the marvellous cunning.of the " Bee hunter"
as he led us through the " oak-openings" in pursuit
of the honey-makers, and now leaving for awhile
(only for awhile, for Mr. Cooper cannot long remain
absent from that beloved spot) the forest-scene, we
gladly embark in the " Sea Lion," and set sail for
some islands as mysterious almost as the unknown
region of Mardi. In order to give an inkling of the
nature of this romance, be it observed that a dying
sailor has made known to a very avaricious man the
existence of some seal-islands, where the fish are so
plentiful as to make the fortune of any ship who
may happen to visit them ; and, moreover, he has
told him of a pirate's treasure buried in some neigh-
bouring island, with which he alone is acquainted.
The sailor dies, leaving the chart of these treasure-
islands in the hands of the aforesaid avaricious man,
who forthwith fits out a ship, the Sea Lion, and en-
gages an expert captain—Bosvil Gardner, the hero
of the book—and entrusts to him the chart and the
secret, after making him swear that he will divulge it
to no one. Gardner sets out on his difficult mission,
which is rendered yet more difficult by the unwel-
come and very tenacious companionship of another
Sea Lion, in all respects the lac simile of his own
vessel. The nephew and heir of the dead sailor Paving
learned that Gardner's expedition is undertaken in
consequence of some revelation of his departed
relative, and justly considering that he him-
self—his kinsman and heir—is entitled to
some share of the good fortune, if good-fortune it be,
and unable to get a clue as to the destinaticn of the
Sea-Lion, has fitted out another vessel of the same
name, and forces himself into the companionship of
Gardner, resolved to share his fortunes, good or bad.
lle has more of the latter than he bargained for.
How Gardner vainly endeavoured to free himself
from his unwelcome "consort," how both vessels
were surrounded by ice and verified the second title
of the book " The Lost Sealers ;" how Gardner ulti-
mately succeeded in his expedition, and how, espe-
cially, the end of the miser—clutching his newly-
found treasure only to feel his grasp relaxed by the
paralysis of death—teaches a forceful lesson on the
vanity of riches, we leave our readers to learn in the
interesting chapters of Mr. Cooper's romance.

THE BATTLE OF THE OPERA.
(From Punch.)
(After Byron's Description of the Battle of Waterloo.)
There was a sound—" 'Tis Jenny Lind's last night!"
And England's capital had gathered then
Her beauty, rank, fashion, and wealth—and bright
The gas shone o'er fair women and spruce men.
A thousand heels lsick'd anxiously, old when
A cry arose from some half-fainting swell,
Soft laughter rase—then kicks were heard again'
The door which had no knocker, nor a bell.
But hush!—hark I—a. deep sound strikes half-way down
Pell Mell.

Did ye not hear? Was it the bolt behind,
Ot the cabs rattling o'er the stony street?
Open the door—the crowd is too confined;
It seems an age to wait. Oh, what a treat
To count the flying hours upon one's feet!
But hark! that heavy sound comes forth once more;
The crowd appears its echo to repeat,
And presses nearer, denselier than before:
Push! push! it is! it is! the Opera's opening door.
Within a little niche of that throng'd hall
Sate Lumley's money-taker; he did hear
That union of sounds, the shriek, the squall,
Which fell with sound familiar on his ear;
And then he smiled when a clenched hand drew near
With half-a-guinea, which he knew full well
Required a check the barriers to clear—
A privilege which he alone could sell,
And many, to be foremost, struggling, gasping fell.
Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro,
And gathering shawls, or fragments of a dress;
And skirts all torn, which but an hour ago
Might well be called the pink of tidiness.
And there were sudden partings in the press
Of ladies from their beaux, and opera ties
Were rudely torn asunder—more or less;
No longer fit to meet fastidious eyes,
Which on so grand a night are sure to criticise.
And there was mounting in hot haste the stairs
Of towering Gallery and up-raised Pit,
And pouring forward to the Stalls—those chairs
In which subscribing dilettanti sit,
And show their connoisseurship and their wit.
A tuning's heard of violins and drums,
Balfe comes—of perfect Band conductor fit.
Some ill-bred persons point with upraised thumbs;
A whisper runs around—" The Queen !she always comes ."
And now the Viten waves above the leaves
Of Aleyerbeer's grand music—at each pass
Grieving, if aught inanimate e'er grieves,
Over the unreturning Lind—alas!
Before the morning cut away like grass.
The crowd on every side, above, below,
Packed close in one enthusiastic mass
Of expectation, cannot bear to know,
The idol they have raised, wills her own overthrow.
Last Season saw her full of artist life,
Last week saw her La Figlia proudly gay:
Rumour announced her an intended wife,
A wedding fixed for a too early day,
On which she would be spirited away.
The curtain's cloud is dropp'd—the air is rent—
The stage is covered thick with a display
Of bouquets, as from a Briareus sent ;
Gallery, pit, box, stall, in one loud " bravo " blent.
Their shouts are heard in louder tones than mine ;
Yet, ere I part from that tumultuous throng,
The Nightingale I'll trouble with one line,
Because I think her resolution wrong.
The pure can hallow operatic song,
And she was of the purest :—virtue rare is
In a profession, now debased too long.
A vicious atmosphere will oft embarrass ;
It could not taint a breast like thine, young Jenny—
Harris.

(After all—Mrs. Harris may prove a myth! Events
may demonstrate the veracity of that memorable decla-
ration that there is "no sich a person!" Jenny Lind
may, as far as her voice is concerned, still continue the
Jenny Lind of the three last glorious seasons in the
Haymarket. If public enthusiasm can, at least yet
awhile, preserve the prima donna of the world to the
lyric stage—it will. Then, for once, our pensive friend
Mr. Punch will have cbaunted the dirge of a reputation
precipitately. Whatever betide, Mademoiselle will
doubtless appreciate to the full the sentiment of this
most felicitous parody. In the words of the good old
song—Jenny Lind, " though lost to sight," must still,
with the people of England, ever be "to memory
clear."—ED. Sun.]

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.—His Royal Highness
the Prince Leopold of Naples (Count of Syracuse), at-
tended by the Chevalier Colonna, honoured the perform-
ance at her Majesty's Theatre yesterday (Thursday)
evening with his presence. Her Majesty's box was oc-
cupied by the Earl and Countess of Morley, Lady Vir-
ginia Young, Lady John Taylor and party. Amongst
the visitors were his Excellency the Russian Minister,
the Baroness Brunnow, Mademoiselle Olga de ',echoer
and Mademoiselle de Brunnoiv, the Duchess of Leeds
and Miss Lane Fox, the Swedish Minister and the Ba-
roness Rehausen, the Neapolitan Ambassador, the Aus-
trian Minister and the Countess Colloredo, the Marquis
of Clanricarde, the Marquis of Worcester, the Marquis
of Donegal, the Earl of Belfast, the Earl and Countess
of Bective, the Earl of Lonsdale, Earl Granville, Vis-
count Anson, Prince Petrola, Count and Countess de
Konen, Lord G. Paget, Lady Suffield, Lord Harry
Vane, Lady Augusta Gordon and the Hon. Miss Ers-
kine, M. de Berg, Lady Quentin, Lady Alicia Powlett,
Lord W. Lennox, Lord Gerald Fitzgerald, Lady Talbot,
Baron de Gulache, Count Vielowsky, Baron tie Cazoy,
Sir Thomas Barrett Leonard and Lady Barrett Leonard,
Sir Richard King, Sir George and Lady Carroll, Sir J.
Bayley and Lady Bayley, Sir Bellingham Graham and
Lady Graham, General the Hon. Arthur
Upton,ypton, i_u-
tenant- General Sir Alexander Woodford, Lady, and
the Misses Woodford ; Lieutenant- General Sir Alexander
Barnard, General the Hon. H. Cavendish, Ladyl Greet?,
General Sir Richard Armstrong, General Bu
er, Sir
Cornwallis Ricketts, Sir G. Wombwell, Lady Flower,
Lady and Miss Colebrooke, Lady Lesford, Sir Henry
Blackwood and the Misses Blackwood, Colonel Crombie,
M. C. Koudriaffsky, Captain the Hon. James Macdo-
nald, &c.
None are more to be pitied than those who have
-neaps of gratifying their desires before they have
—wern Cooks Journal,

The glories of " the l.3ng Thursdays" are revived.
Last night, which was the first " long Thursday" of
the Fresent season, may vie with any of its predeces-
sors of any former season in the variety and the ex-
cellence of its attractions. First we had the ever-
claming opera of the Cenerentola, with Alboni,
Calzolari, Lablache, and Beletti ; then we had the
principal scenes of the ballet of Fiorita, in which
Carolina Rosati was more marvellous and more
gre.ceful film ever ; then the magnificent
performance of Norma by Parodi, followed
by the ballet of Electra with Carlotta Grisi and
Mai rie Taglioni. The house was crowded to excess.
Ali ioni and all the old favairites were much ap-
plaisded, and we were delighted to see that a mixed
audience, such as that of last night, could fully ap-
pre.ziate the superb acting and singing of Parodi.
We expect a great treat here on Saturday, when
Maeienioiselle Parodi will appear as Semiramide for
the first time, supported by Alboni cs Arsace, and by
Col nti as Assur, while, to render the cast as complete
as possible, Lablache will appear as the High Priest.

Ae i 1:g
the ITALIAN
firstf s oix
foa r Pe
w Ee
med here
last evitYeni°ng, bOll PERA.
The opera of Don Giovanni Was
perform-
ancesperformed
by Madame Persiani, previous to her retire-
ment; from the stage. She last night appeared in her
favourite character of Zerlina. On her entrance, the
fair vocalist received the most enthusiastic greeting.
She appeared in much better health than when she
last performed here, and not so thin. Of the beauties
of hex Zerlina it is needless to speak. It is an unique
performance, eclipsing all contemporary representa-
tione, of the character, not more by the exquisite finish
and true feeling of the vocal portion, than by the
simAlcity and arch coquettishness of the acting. It
was Dever more perfectly rendered by the actress than
last night. She was encored in the charming
" B atti, batti," and in the duet "La ci darem"
with. Tamburini. She was called before the curtain
at the close of each act, and covered with applause.
The rest of the characters were sustained in the
style to which the audience of this theatre have been
accustamed. The Giovanni of Tarnbtirini is one of
the inc,st artistic even of his impersonations, so gen-
tlern acily, so gay and vivacious, and with such a fasci.
Lath ig wickedness. Corbari wes the Elvira, end
Grisi: the Donna Anna, a part to which her tragic
genitas gives a marvellous force and individuality.
Mario also strengthened she cast by his performance of
Otta•Fso, and was, as usual, rapturously encored in the
"Il r aio Tesoro." The trio, at the close of the first
act, sung by these three artists, was enthusiastically
enco3.7e(l. Marini made his first appearance as Lepo-
rello. Though wanting vivacity and mobility, he
nevertheless gave a very artistic embodiment of the
chore der, and proved the versatility of his powers,
and bry the geniality of his whole performance kept
the aix.dience in good humour throughout the piece.
As a whole, the Don Giovanni, as rendered at this
theatre, with the fine cast of the chief characters and
the perfection of the orchestral accompaniments, is a
musical treat of the highest order.