The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-14 00:00:00

STRAND.

M. Philippe commenced his summer campaign here
last night, and commenced by lighting up his temple of
'bogie by a pistol shot. He fired, and behold 250 candles
became lighted at once. Paul Bedford should have

been there to have given his favourite word of command,
" Blaze away," for M. Philippe would have obeyed it to
the very letter. Another marvel which M. Philippe in-
troduced last night was his grandmother's cap, and cer-
tainly his grandmother must have been the most won-
derful of womankind—the cap of Fortunatus was a
mere ordinary article of manufacture compared to
the cap of M. Philippe's grandmother ; that cap
alone is in itself an inheritance, and the bon-
bons, and the coffee, and the good things of all
sorts which M. Philippe produces and distributes
among his friends, were last night in greater quan-
tity and greater variety than ever. What an invalu-
able man he would be as magician to an exploring party
in the back woods, or to an emigrant party to Oregon, or
even to attend an invading army. The commissariat.
department might be done away with entirely, ex-
plorers, and emigrants, and armies could secure the ser-
vices of such a magician as M. Philippe, who can, no
doubt, at any time. extemporise stores stocked to an
unlimited extent in the bush or in the desert.

ASTLEY'S.
This favourite place of amusement well sustains its
long established character as the princip▪
al eque
strian
establishment in the British empire. Last
with his
l night thei
spirited manager of this theatre, in conformitys
novel and or.oignii▪
nnha eisqueensttirtileadn
supseunatlacculestofmnr, produced ucEead a
Easter
holidays,The Arab Steeil, or the Pearl of the Euphrates.
It
combines the interest of a romautic story, crowded with
stirring events, with the gorgeous scenery and decora-
tions which are peculiar to Asiatic exhibitions. The
drama is from the pen of Mr. Leman Rede. It com-
mences with a view of the desert near the mouth of the
Euphrates, where Arrac, " the Son of the Desert," was
resolved to dwell, and not accompany his tribe, who
were about to set out with their steeds, baggage, &c., to
dwell in the sunshine of Caliph Omar's power. Ac-
cording to an old tradition it was affirmed that upon
the last steed of pure Arab blood, and the last of a
great tribe, being left alone, wandering in the desert,
the Caliph's power would be at an end. This appre-
hension so worked upon the Caliph Omar that he
sent one-half of his courtiers to obtain the Arab steed, in
the possession of Arrac, which he fancied was the
one referred to in the tradition. Arrac refused the
request, and was in consequence surrounded by the
troops of Omar, who marched him off a prisoner.
A council was held by Omar, at which Arrac and his
family were assembled as prisoners. Arrac at length
brings forth his steed, and after declining the most
tempting offers made to him, for the steed is condemned
to death, and his wife, son, and daughter are kept
prisoners, notwithstanding the most earnest interces-
sion by Selim, the nephew and successor of the Caliph,
on behalf of Zillah, the daughter of Arrac, with whom he
has fallen in love. In the meantime the noble animal,
as if prompted by instinct, bounds off from the guards
by whom he is surrounded—makes a sudden and
marvellous escape, and flies back to the desert with the
speed of lightning. After a variety of thrilling incidents
which were depicted with great power, Llaha Louri,
the Arabian Amazon, calls up her guard of female
warriors, who like true daughters of the desert, vow that
that they will avenge the wrongs of Arrac, the son of
the desert. The Arab regains his steed, vengeance is
wreaked on the Caliph, the palace and round tower are
fired, the fortress is demolished, and after the most
deadly encounters and sanguinary conflicts between the
Caliph and his myrmidons on the one side, and Arrac
with the brave Amazonians on the other, the curtain
falls on the triumph of the tribes, and the victory of
might over right. Barney Brallagan, from Ballyragget,
who was wrecked and thrown on the coast near the Ca
liph's Court, while on his way to a pearl fishery, sus-
tains the principal portion of the underplot, and keeps
the house in a continued roar of laughter. Some of the
scenes, and particularly the one where Arrac and the
perishing camel are discovered in the endless desert, are
very splendid. Indeed, the whole arrangements reflect
the greatest credit on the management, and we venture
to predict a long and successful run for this gorgeous
and interesting spectacle. The evenings entertainments
were concluded with the laughable afterpiece of For-
tune's Frolic.