The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-27 00:00:00

HA YMARKET.

The manager who expects to fill his house on what is
technically called " boxing night," without the aid of pan-
tomime, will, we imagine, always find himself mistaken in
his calculation. It was npt surprising, therefore, that, even
with the laughter-moving aid of Mr. Power, the Haymarket
Theatre should last night have been unable to boast of so
crowded an audience as usual. A pantomime at Christmas,
is to the play-goer, like plum-pudding after his Christmas
dinner, a dish with which he does not like to dispense once
a year, but too cloying to be often repeated ; and wherl
the public regain their natural appetite for which a very
few days will suffice, the pleasant trifles Mr. Webster
caters for them will, from the force of contrast, be doubly
relished. The pieces last night were The Youthful Queen,
O'Flannigan and the Fairies, and Tom Noddy's Secret.
None of them are new. The last is very laughable'
and was played with full spirit by Strickland, Buck-
stone, Miss Taylor, &c., which latter lady, by-the-bye, in
the first piece, when performing the character of the
Youthful Queen, excited a roar of laughter by elevating
her Prime Minister to the dignity of Grand Master of the
Polar Star—an office, though doubtless, sufficiently high to
satisfy the ambition—far too cold and chilly to excite the
envy of any Minister. O'Flannigan and the Fairies, though
not new, was played here for the first time, and was, of
course, the principal attraction of the evening. It turns, as
our readers probably remember, on the bewilderment of a
poor Irishman's brains, who, having been persuaded by some
emissary of the Temperance Society to renounce whiskey
for a year, which now expires the day previous to his mar-
riage, is prevailed upon by his rival to visit a fair on the
last day of his single blessedness, where, according to
due precedent, lie gets his fill of whiskey and fighting
both. " When the liquor is in the wit is out," and
Phelim O'Flaunigan (Mr. Power) not being the than fb
give the lie to so respectable a proverb, darts to bid
defiance not only to all the evil sparks of darknev,- •
• cut even
to the " good people" (Anglice, fair— '
punished by a " Midsumr— _..) themselves. s-se is
of which Obern' -..0r night's dream," in the cetirse
of thei- ntania, Puck, Priar Tuck, and the rest
• ._ motley crew, not only play frolics enough in his
enamber to disconcert, as he says, any respectable man's
household ; but whisk him away to England and lodge hitil
in a wine cellar in LancaSter, where he is apprehended as
a thief, condemned to be hanged, and is actually brought
out to the place of execution. A reputed witch saves
him, and he is again whisked back in time to find au adver-
tisement on his own door, offering, on the part of his late
betrothed, now the wife of his rival, a reward a si. tile
discovery of his body, which has been missing for more than
eight days. Of course all this turns out to be a dream ; but the
bewilderment and incredulity of Phelim, as the reality is gra-
dually unfolded to his astonished senses, are comic in the
highest degree, and do infinite and equal credit to Mr. Power
as a dramatic writer and as an aetots He has 'alsiJ akt excellent
drunken scene, in which he 'dons &el• by the light of a
lanthorn the rules and regulations laid down by himself
against future excess in his " public and private dhrinks,"
and which, like the final clauses of an act of Parliament,
have loop-holes big enough to roll a dozen hogsheads of
whiskey through them. Mrs. Fitztvillirp was Mary, and
sang several appropriate teengt, t 4 well-known Irish airs.
Webster has ati amusing character ; and thus supported,
together with the aid of singing, jigging, fighting, and fairy
fun and frolicking, we doubt not that Power's Phelim
O'Flannigan will have a most successful holiday run,

AMELPit. , ,
The Christmas entertaiiinient provided at this house last
night elicited shout'S of applause from the happy urchins
who, escaped from the terrors of birch, fancy all imaginable
pleasures comprised in plum-pudding and pantomime.
After " Jim Crow" was jumped to admiratien—.the popular
songs being encored four times; and the tietibfinanen of
that general favoutite tvith till kit Yorkshire school-
masters of the Sgiteerst family, " Nicholas Nickleby"—
a new pantomime was produeedi entitled ilarle4ain
and the Silver Dove or, Me .rttiPy Of The Golden
Ladder. The usual oteluab leading to the tricks and
transformation" introduces Baron Runigrunt,q. sort of being
invested with mysterious influence,_ bearing off his daiighter
from Ronan, 4 peasant, *ho is deeply enamoured of her,
and to whoth she is lib less attached. The lovers, how-
evet, are 'Vey soon brought again together, through the
kind interference of Gloriana (Fairy of the Silver Dove),
who employs a number of her attendant sprites to construct
a golden ladder for the purpose. The result is that, at
the instance of the good Fairy, the Baron's fair daughter is
transformed into Columbine, and her lover Florian into
Harlequin. The Baron, at the same time, exercising his
power, changes two most unsightly-looking characters—the
one into Clown and the other into Pantaloon. From this
moment the scene of bustle and extravagant drollery con-
tinues without interruption down to the falling of
.the cur-
tain. Several of the devices are original and ingenious, and
" broad grins" being the main object sought, was attained
to the fullest extent. The house was crowded in every
part. The several performers exerted themselves to the
utmost, and were rewarded with roars of laughter froni
motley assemblage in the gallery, and the juvenile auditors
in the boxes.

OLYMPIC;
Mr. Charles Mathews made his first appearance last
evening since his return from America. One cannot ima-
gine any reception more warm and cordial than that which
he met with from his old friends at the Olympic.
We need
not say how much we are rejoiced at this. Both on his
father's account and his own, we have a liking for Charles
Mathews, independently of his merits as a most lively and
agreeable actor ; and it was with great pleasure we found
that his friends in London seemed earnestly desirous of
making up by their kindness for all the harsh and
preposterous treatment which he met with in the
United
States. It was in the second piece of the evening,
Patter versus Clatter, that Mr. Mathews appeared,
looking full of life and health, though almost as thin
as his father was when 'Fate Wilkinson told him he
was only fit to play the starved apothecary in Romeo
and Juliet," and would require stuffing for that." For seve-
ral minutes the performance could not go on for the cheering
from all parts of the house, and cries of " Welcome
back to England !" Mathews seemed rather to have forced
the air of liveliness with which he hounded on the stare
and this reception appeared in some degree to overset nun.
Be soon recovered his self-possession, however, and rattled

away with infinite volubility through his monologue and the
interspersed songs. He announced his own re-appearance
" every night," amid much applause, and was afterwards
called before the curtain, in order, no doubt, as the audi-
ence, and probably he himself, expected, to make a speech.
But his heart was too much in his mouth to allow of suc-
cess in this attempt. " Ladies and Gentlemen," be said,
" I really—l—thank you, with all my heart. I but
I cannot answer kindness. Where I thought I was ill-
used, the words flowed, and I spoke as easily as if—.
Really, Ladies and Gentlemen, you must imagine for me
what I should Fay, for I cannot—cannot say it ;" and with
this, off he ran.