The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-25 00:00:00

afterwards to 101/ ; Brazil Stock opened at 79i,
but left off at 801 ; Chilian Bonds receded to 44i- to
34 ; Colombian Stock of 1824 was dull at 25, and
Mexican Six per Cer.tg. rece:ted to 29,i to *. Dutch
Two.and-a-Half per Cents. were per cent, higher,
closing at 524 to 52.
The Share Market was rather more lively to-day,
being affected by the improvement in the English Stock. Great Western shares rose from 26 to 27,
and
the new 10 to 11 prem. ; Hull and Selby were at 3,
London and Birmingham at 79, South Western at IS',
and York and North Midland 19 prem. ; Great North
of England were at 3, Eastern Counties at 10, North
Midland at 13, and Brighton at 9,-1- discount.

THE FESTIVAL OF RUBENS AT
ANTWERP.

ANTWERP, AUG. 22.—Since my last the city has
assumed a more brilliant appearance than before. Vast
numbers of visitors continue arriving every hour, and at
this moment the streets are crowded with as motley a
collecion as any public occasion ever brought together.
With the exception of a grand Venetian fete upon
the Scheldt, which took place last night, little has oc-
curred worthy of note or observation. A universal
lethargy appeared for the moment to have overspread
the city as a natural sequitur to the over excitement
produced by the grand affair of the procession of the
giants, of which I gave you an account in my last, and
which, it appears, is to be again repeated to-morrow and
Monday.

As soon as it was dusk a salvo of artillery from the
battery below the town announced that the anxiously-
expected " Fete, ou Nuit Venitienne," Was to commence.
The roar of the cannon was answered by peals of bells
from all the churches in and about Antwerp ; and
shortly afterwards the city emptied itself of its inhabi-
tants and visitors, who congregated in countless
thousands upon the whole extent of quay that faced the

river.

The commencement of the entertainment was sig-
nalled by the ignition of about one hundred and fifty
tar barrels on the left bank of the river, immediately
opposite the quay. The effect was excellent. Their
lurid flame continually mixing with huge masses of
curling and expanding smoke gave to the water that
appearance which a fiery imagination would readily
liken to the river Styx, while the shipping within its
glare wore the supernatural appearance which time-
honoured opinion has long assigned to the flotilla of
Charon. This murky illumination continued through-
out the whole of the subsequent proceedings, and
materially assisted the operations of those who were
employed in the general work of marine rejoicing.
Had the space between Blackfriars and Waterloo
bridges been as effectively lighted up, the whole king-
dom of Cockaine would have been fully persuaded that
the Thames was on fire.
About this period one of the simplest devices, but
at the same time one of the most beautiful I ever saw,
was carried into effect. In the early part of the day I
had observed the word " Rubens," in very large cha-
racters, attached to one of the flying bulustrades at
the top of the cathedral spire, a height of at least three
hundred feet. In common with most other persons, I
thought this was nothing more than affixing the name of
the object of the fetes at an altitude where it might be
seen by everybody, but at the time to which I have al-
luded it was suddenly illuminated. I cannot describe
to you how singularly novel and pleasing was the effect.
For some time the twilight continued to display to great
advantage the beautiful architecture of that portion of
the tower where the transparency was placed, but,
when darkness had shut out all view of its elegant
proportions, the illuminated name appeared suspended
by magic in the air. In consequence of its great height,
and the colossal size of the letters, it must have been
seen by the neighbouring country for many miles around.
Shortly after the illumination on the bank of the river
had been completed, a corvette appeared on the stream
completely depicted in outline by variegated lights.
The appearance of this vessel was highly characteristic
of a Venetian Carnival, from which the notion of her
peculiar decorations had evidently been borrowed.
Two continuous bands of light surrounded her entire
hull, one close to the water's edge, the other imme-
diately beneath the tier of guns on her deck. Her
boom and bowsprit were similarly illuminated, and va-
rious colours were continually imparted to her masts
and yards by the ever-changing varieties of red, blue,
and green fires. From her three topmasts as many hal-
yards had been passed over the mainyard arms, and then
made fast to the sides of the deck, by which
means three elliptical figures, not much unlike
an 0, with the bottom cut off, were described,
The whole of these were strung with Chi-
nese paper lamps of every imaginable colour,
similar festoons traversing the vessel fore and aft
from all points, the tout ensenzble presenting somewhat
the likeness of a floating Vauxhall. There was another
vessel decorated in a similar way ; but the great card
of the aquatic amusements was the ,Soho steam-vessel,
belonging to the General Steam Navigation Com-
pany, which had just arrived in time to participate in
the general rejoicing. This splendid ship, which was
loaded with company, paddled to and fro in front of
the quay, an immense mass of overwhelming brilliancy,
her masts, rigging, hull, and paddle-boxes having
been literally covered with every description of light,
from the common link to the most delicate Bengal
fire. As she moved majestically backward and forward
she was continually saluted by artillery from the Ar-
chimedes steamer, a gun-boat, a corvette, and, finally,
the batteries. An attempt at a flight of rockets was
also made by some of the officials on board the Bel-
gian boats ; but whether the pyrotechnical art is not
so well understood in Antwerp as the art of cook-
ing, or whether their gunpowder is under proof, I
know not ; but certain it is that the "rocket prac-
tice" was a miserable failure ; and had it not been for
five or six dozen of the right sort brought from London
by the captains of the Soho and the Archimedes, this
branch of the firework department would have been but
a very laughable affair. At one time the appearance of
the Soho and the corvette was awfully grand ; they
looked exactly like ships on fire, presenting to the eye
of the imagination a vivid picture of the desolating
horror of a ship at sea in flames. One of the prettiest
objects on the river was the illuminated representation
of a Chinese junk, which floated about in every di-
rection with a most graceful will-o'-the-wisp motion,
her outline and rigging being composed of innu-
merable paper lamps. Added to this, there was a
Lilliputian steam-boat belonging to the principal doua-
slier, which was not bigger, nor yet so big, as a
Gravesend wherry. This maritime mullion in yarn() had
a dozen very curious transparent lamps dispersed about its
mast and ropes, and its rapid ghost-like glidings amongst
the shipping were the theme of astonishment to all on
shore. In the catalogue of these fire-ships I must not
forget to mention the most elegant of the whole, a
pleasure yacht, which was fitted up for the reception
of the Societe Venitienne, to whom had been committed
the philharmonic arrangements for the occasion. The
vocalists were not quite so good as the German com•
pany which has just left you, or the singers of the
Queen's Theatre, whose opera season terminated the
other day ; nor were the instrumentalists altogether of
such first-rate excellence as the orchestra of the Ancient
Concerts ; nevertheless, there was an amount of talent
in the united performance which did not deserve to be
" grinned" at, although some thousands, who evidently
had " no music in their souls," did grin most horribly ;
or, if they smiled, 'twas " ghastly." As some of your
readers may be anxious to know the state of popular or
out-of-door music in Antwerp, of which it is fair to as-
sume this boatload of professors was no unworthy re-
presentation, I must tell you that the accompani-
ments to the singers composed of an octave flute,
two soldiers' drums, a keyed bugle, and one
fiddle. The singers would have gone on pretty well, in
spite of this extraordinary mixture, had it not been for
the determined and ceaseless perseverance of the bugle-
player, who blew everything before him half a tone
sharper than all the rest. The boat itself was a most
attractive affair. It was completely fitted out and rig-
ged with small transparent lanterns of every hue, and was
received with vast shouts by the multitude wherever it
appeared. The duties of the musical crew were con-
fined to singing the praises of Rubens in every form of
composition to which the language of music has given
birth ; and, to confess the real truth, they performed '
those duties in a most industrious manner, for, long
after every one else had retired from the scene, these
determined harmonists made the two shores of the
Scheldt echo with their noise. The weather was mag-
nificent ; not a drop of rain fell to mar the full effect of
this Belgico-Venetian regatta.
Since last night the influx of fresh visitors has been
considerable. In fact this place is as full as it can hold
of company, anxious to witness the inauguration of the
statue of Rubens, a ceremony which is to take place
on Monday, in presence of the King and Queen, whose
arrival here is looked upon by all clases as a matter o
certainty.—Morning Post.

RIGHTS OF DISSENTERS.—For some time pas
various cases have occurred in regard to the privileges
possessed by Catholics, and other Dissenters from the
Church, to pass toll-free through the toll-bars ; and nl•
though, we believe, these have been generally quashed,
it might be right to state the law on the subject, as
well as a caution to toll keepers, as to instruct our fel
low Dissenters what is their right. By an Act passed
in the 2d and 3d Gul. 111. cap. 16. for amending and
making more effectual the laws concerning turnpike-
roads in Scotland, it is expressly provided, by section
2d, that " All the enactments, provisions, matters, and
things in this act contained, shall extend to all local acts
of Parliament now in force, and to all Acts of Parlia-
ment which shall hereafter be passed, for making, widen-
ing, turning, amending, regulating, repairing, or main-
taining any turnpike road in Scotland, save and except as
to such enactments, provisions, matters, and things as
shall be expressly varied, altered, or repealed, in any
such Act that shall be hereafter passed." And by sec-
tion 32, it is declared that " No toll shall be demanded
or taken at any such toll-bar as aforesaid, from any person
going to or returning from his, her, or their usual place of
religious worship,_StirlingOObserver.
OBSERVE, REFORMERS I hat this day, the
25th August, is the last day for sending in objections to
parties claiming to vote either for counties r boroughs.