The Sun.
London, England, 1851-11-11 00:00:00

THE SUN

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.
sTULLIEN'S CONCERTS.
IN evember, e.hich was wont to be- the most dreary Gf
the twelve months of the year, so far, at least, as
the metropolis was concerned, has for some years past,
thanks to the regular appearance during that month of
M. Jnllien and his band at Drury-lane Theatre, be-
come by no means the least pleasant of the months,
and the gloominess under which Londoners were
wont :during November to suffer, has been effec-
tually dispelled by the music, the lights, the statues,
the crush, and the excitement evoked by the magic
baton of M. Jullien. The season cf M. Jullien's
Promenade Concerts commenced last evening., and the
programme is a most promising one. All the old
favourites are retained ; K oig, Collinet, Lazarus,
and Deloffre are still among the soloists, and in addi-
tion Sivori, Piatti, and Bottesini are engaged, end we
have Miss
Dolby as the vocalist, vice Jetty Treirz.
Among the musical novelties promised are a selection
from Mozart's Zaztberflote, a selection from Beet-
hoven's Fidelio, an Indian quadrille, composed by
N. Jullien, on East Indian melodies, anew grand qua-
drille, entitled "The St. Leger Day," descriptive of
the grand national races of England, and which is to
be produced on Wednesday, and a new humorous
quadrille on American and English melodies, to be
produced on Thursday, entitled " The Bloomers'
Quadrille," beside a variety of new waltzes, polkas,
and quadrilles, which have been composed by M.
Jullien expressly for her Majesty's state balls. The
theatre is elegantly fitted up in the same style as last
year, the refreshment rooms are on the same
scale of comfort, and the reading room is even more
richly supplied with journals and periodicals than it
was last season. The theatre was crammed to
excess in every part long before the commencement
of the concert ; it was a misnomer, insulting
to the persons "on the floor," to designate that por-
tion of the house last night as a promenade, it was
more than a crush, it was a regular jam, and the un-
fortunate, who found himself in the midst, could nei-
ther advance nor retreat ; could turn neither to the
right nor to the left, but like a ship embayed in the
ice was forced to drift with "the pack ;" the compari-
son to an ice-pack, however, does not hold good in
one sense, for the heat was sufficiently intense to have
thawed Wenham Lake itself. The appearance of
Jullien in the orchestra was the signal for a burst of
enthusiastic applause, followed by loud cries
for " God save the Queen !" The band ac-
cordingly struck up the National Anthem, and
were accompanied by the audience, who after a
fashion more hearty than harmonious joined in chorus.
This was followed by Beethoven's Leonora overture
to Fidelio, which was admirably performed, listened
to most attentively, and applauded to the echo. This
was followed by a new quadrille, arranged by Jul-
lien, from the opera of Il Prodigo. The quadrille,
which concludes with the " Pas de Poignards," was
applauded enthusiastically ; it possesses the elements
of an enduring popularity. The great bit of the
evening, however, was Bottesini's solo fantasia on the
contra-basso from airs in Bellini's Sonnambula. The
astonishing performance of Bottesini on this unwieldy
instrument, which, in his hands, becomes by turn a
trumpet, flute, flageolet, violin, and gives forth every
variety of sound from its ownnatural growl to the
softest tones of an 2Eolian harp, hushed the vast crowd
into the most solemn silence, and at the conclusion
the applause was vociferous, and the call for a repe-
tition ‘unanimous. Miss Dolby sang the Page's
song, "Noble Seigneurs," from the Ilug,uenots, very
effectively, and the first part concluded with the
" Grand Exhibition Quadrille," which, with the
crystal curtain (which we are happy to say is as bril-
liant as ever), divided the honour of last season.
The pieces de resistance in the second part were the
selection from the Huguenots and the andante from
Beethoven's symphony D, both of which were admi-
rshly performed. A new polka by Jullien, entitled
The Crystal Fountain, as sparkling as its title,
achieved an immense success ; and the unaccompanied
trio from Robert Le Diable, by Koenig, Ciofli, and
Prospere, was much applauded. The season could not
have had a more brilliant commencement.

OLYMPIC THEATRE.
The Merchant of Venice was performed here last
evening, when Miss Laura Keene sustained the
character of Portia for the first time. The in-
dulgence of the audience was claimed for her on the
ground that she was labouring under illness, and
such was evidently the case, notwithstanding which,
however, she played with such intense dramatic feel-
ing and that marked intelligence, such she succeeded
in eliciting repeated bursts of applause, and achieved
a complete success. Mr. Henry Farren was the
Shylock, and gave a careful and correct version of
the part, and Compton as Launcelot Gobbo was the
best who has appeared since Liston. A new farce,
the aim, object, and conduct of which may be guessed
from its name, The Original Bloomer, was aftewards
produced, and was completely successful.

STRAND THEATRE.
A rattling piece of fun, provocative of continuous
explosions of mirth from the audience, was produced
last night at this theatre. This production of the
comic alembic of Messrs. Augustus Mayhew and
Edwards, is entitled The Fifth of November, and ap-
pears to have the laudable object of casting discredit on
the childish and dangerous practice of exploding
fireworks as a testimonial of loyal abhorrence of the
dark designs of Guy Fawkes against the British
Solomon and the Peers in Parliament assembled.
Mr. Wheeler (Tilbury), an elderly gentleman of the
old school, who seems to think there is an intimate
and insuperable connexion between the existence,
constitution, and the observance of all time-honoured
customs, is introduced, giving orders for the incarna-
tion of a well got up Guy. His daughter (Miss Mar-
shall), on the other hand, belongs to the extreme gauche
on this subject, and for this, and a too lively feeling
for Mr. Sinjohn (Mr. Rogers), she is confined to her
chamber, whilst he is expelled the house. But as
lovers are never at a loss for an expedient, particu-
larly on the stage, Sinjohn assumes the paraphernalia
of the Guy, and in this disguise finds ready accept-
ance from the father. He is finally taken out to be
cast into the bonfire, when the father, hearing the
real state of the case, orders the revellers to stay
further proceedings, but somewhat too late. The
unfortunate lover is brought back in an apparently
dying condition, and the old gentleman thee, in order
to soothe his last hours, consents to give away the
daughter. The accepted lover overjoyed at the event
tells his father-in-law that he has been done, it having
been " the regular Guy" that was cast into the fire.
The Fifth of November is a successful addition to
the repertoire of agreeable short pieces, in the pro-
duction of which the management of Punch's Play-
house seems to be inexhaustible.

GLASGOW' AND SOUTII.WESTERN RAILWAY. —Traffic foa
,he week ending November 8, 1851:—
Passengers (20,029), goods and
parcels, horses and carriages.. £3,623 8 0
Corresponding week in last year
for Glasgow and Ayr, and
Glasgow, Dumfries, and Car-
lisle Railways £3,067 6 9
Glasgow, November 10.

GREAT FIRE IN HOLBORN.—Last night, shortly
after ten o'clock a fire, involving a serious loss of property,
broke out in the premises of Messrs. Mainon and Sons,
French basket importers, 12, Holborn-hill, at the corner of
Castle-street. The building was four stories high, and be-
tween GO and 70 feet deep. The fire commenced, from some
cause not clearly ascertained, in the back part of the premises
and, owing to the inflammable nature of the contents, the
work of destruction progressed with such rapidity that be-
fore an engine had time to reach the spot the whole of the
back buildings were in a blaze. The engines of the London
Brigade and West of England Company, with the Royal
having arrived the most strenuous ex-
Se
rotci ioentys 'ws
efiesrree-maedlePte' to subdue the fire, but it was nearly mid-
night ere this could be accomplished, and not until the
greater portion of the extensive property had been reduced
to ashes, and considerable damage done to the premises ad-
joining. The total loss must, at a moderate calculation,
amount to several hundred pounds.
THE INFLUENCE OF LEGISLATURE UPON FASHION.
—Sir Robert Peel's Bill having discarded a large ortion of
public appear now to be reaping.the
fulldutybene
fiutpoofn t
hd raets
measure.
we et examinations
we notice these facts and obtain also a notion of that which
asbeure. At the Customs'
is denied to us elsewhere, viz.—what is to be the vogue
Messrs. Jay,
during the current month. A large case consigned
_to the
bonnets of a white and semi-transparent ground, on which which was opened yeaterday, displayed some
was a raised cord that appeared remarkably
like •
e nwol us et
scintillatory and diamond-like effect of some of °the. head-
dresses was very chaste and elegant.
some bonnets, for which one of our countrymen las k
There
iwereta
Jr had really
a patent both in France and in England.
le and variety could be
puzzled us to know how so much sty
produced for a house which is limited to specialities, but it
would seem that the recurring success of these insportatio.ns
is attributable to the constant visits and personal superm-
tendance in Paris of the Artiste en Mode, who directs the
col-salon of the millinery for the salons in Regent-street.
THE OMNIBUSES.—The whole of the omnibuses
on the Oxford-street line having reduced their fares, the ve-
hicles on the Piccadilly and Strand line of road are pretty
generally following their example. The Pimlico, as well as
the Westminster omnibuses, have reduced the fares to and
from the City from 4d. to 3d. the entire distance, and the
Royal Blue" omnibusea, which run to the further portion
of Pimlico and Sloane-square, announce the carriage of Pas'
sengers to and from Charing-cross and either end of the
journey at the lesser fare, retaining the full fare of 4d. for
the entire distance, while the Chelsea omnibuses do the same
thing, but retain the fourpenny fare to and from Sloane-
street and the Bank, and tid. for the whole journey; as is
also the case with the numerous omnibuses running on this
route. In addition to these concessions, the omnibuses run-
ning to and from Hungerford-marl- t Lid Paddington
have
t
reduced their fares from 4d. e
3d ‘ .
and 2d.only, as before,
oat
en the roof. It appears now t'
the public have very gene-
rally the opportunity of travelling by most of the omnibuses
to and from Charing-crsss at a moiety ofwhich
for
t they are indebted to the opposition recentlythe fare,
started on the
Oxford-street and Holborn line at thl 1
'DT fares, and dou )t-
-less also to the remarks made by the public journals on this
subject.

ELECTRIC TELLGRAPIL—Mr. Francis Whishaw,
the inventor of this important discovery, is about to deliver
illustrated lectures in London, one view of which will ba to
demonstrate that the charge need not be more than a shilling
for every tweAty words, trout all the principal towns of the
kingd9m•