The Sun.
London, England, 1851-05-22 00:00:00

FRENCH PLAYS.

The reign of theone• act screamers of the Valais Royale
still continues. No less than four of these little pieces
were performed last evening, two of them for the first
time. Levassor appeared in them, and was the life and
soul of both. They have evidently been written:for him,
as farces at the Lyceum or Adelphi are 'written for
Charles Mathews or Edward Wright. They have
nothing in them either in the way of incident or plot,
but just consist of a few scenes, in which some gro-
tesque original is the prominent object with a few other
characters, who merely servo to bring him out, and set
off his ludicrous absurdities. Levassor absolutely revels
in fun and frolic, and indulges in the most extravagant
flights; but his humour, though rich and broad, is free
from vulgarity. Compared to the humour of some of
our popular farceurs it is the effervcscence of cham-
pagne to the briskness of bottled beer. Ic is a plesant
thing to enjoy a most hearty laugh without being
offended by indelicacy or coarseness.

DIORAMA OF NINEVEH.
er grandic Charlesmo v i n g
Cooper, diorama
of
thebbyy Mt
hr.;
Frederick
British Museum to assist Dr. Layard, is now being Nianretviseth' sent out d
ex-
hibited at the Gothic Hall, 3, Lower Grosvenor-street.
The views are very accurate, exceedingly well painted,
and very interesting, and the explanatory lecture, de-
livered by Mr. Cooper, sufficiently explains them to
those who have not read the work of Dr. Layard. The
views commence with the city of Mosul, continuing with
both the banks of the Tigris as far as the Mound of
N. imroud, the first scene of Dr. Layard's labours. There
is then a moonlight view of the great Lion Gateway of
the north-west palace, the excavations at Konytmjick, the
remains of the great halls of the Assyrian Kings, and
the French discoveries at Khorstibad. This interesting
diorama wilt no doubt be visited by all who take an in-
terest in the subject which it illustrates, and it is quite
as worthy the support of the public as any which have
hitherto appeared.

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
Having already noticed favourably two of the lectures
" On Fire in its various relations," delivered by Mr.
J. IL Pepper, chemical lecturer to the above institu-
tion, we therefore cannot permit the third and last of
the eourse to pass without recording its particular in-
teresting features. The Learned Professor commenced
by calling the attention of his audience to the ordinary
appearance of light giving flame, and showed in a satis-
factory manner that when it affordedilluminating power
not merely gaseous matter was brought up to a high
temperature, but that solid substances, as charcoal, is a
gas flame. Lime is the oxy-hydrogen light now abso-
lutely required. The maintenance of the heat and the
supply cf oxygen wero next considered, and it was de-
wensrrated that flame could be as it were frozen out and
extinguished by the simple withdrawal of the heat by
conducting metal. The obstruction of flame came next
under consideration, the external figure being conical
and shaped like a myrile-iaai, broause the air rushed
past the outside and dragged up. Some beautin.a vnpo
riments with ascending and descending flames illustrated
this part of the subject. Finally, the internal portion of
flame was shown to be hollow. A flame was made up
of three divisions, two external in a state of intense
combustion, and a third inside being a centre core or
hollow full of unburnt gas. This fact was demonstrated
by some very curious experiments—a ease of red fire
with quick matches was held in the centre without igni-
tion. Fire appeared to extinguish fire, because the
centre of the flame was full of unburnt hydro-carbon,
which did not :Lippert combustion. This, with many
other equally str:king experiments and lucid explana-
tions, was received with great applause.

MUSIC HALL-HENRY RUSSELL'S MUSICAL
AND PICTORIAL ENTERTAINMENT.

This well, known and highly-popular lyric author and
vocalist, presented- to our public, for the first time on
last evening, his admirable musical and pictorial treat.
The first part consisted of a representation of the scenes
and incidents of an emigrant's progress from our shores
to an American seaport, and thence up the giant western
rivers, through forest and prairie, to the yet half•re-
claimed settlements in the far west. Nothing could be
more beautifully depicted than the various scenes on land
and sea represented in this portion of Mr. Russell's
panorama, whilst his admirable and racy descriptions,
and the music of his apposite and finely rendered melo-
dies gave additional interest to each scene thus doubly
illustrated. The second part of the entertainment con-
sisted of a series of panoramic scenes illustrative of negro
life in primitive freedom, and afterwards in slavery. The
first scene opens with a view of an African village, with
its festivities—then follows a battle of the tribes—then
the capture and embarkation of the prisoners on board
the slaver schooner, the chase by a British cruiser, and
the rescue of one set of slaves. The scene changes to
the Savannah, and we see the slave market and the suc-
ceeding pictures pourtray the ♦arieus descriptions of
slave labour in the southern stater.

The entire of this panorama in all its phases is de-
scribed by Mr. Russell in a style of elegant and familiar
dissertation, interspersed with numerous original anec•
dotes, and rendered still more delightful by a series of
songs and ballads, pathetic and descriptive, the whole
forming an entertainment which has been rarely equalled,
and certainly never excelled (of its kind) in Dublin.
The audience of last evening was a crowded one indeed.
The spacious Music Hall, in boxes, pit, and galleries
was crowded to excess, and the repeated and enthusiastic
plaudits that greeted every effort of the gifted vocalist,
evinced the deep delight experienced by all present at
this novel and unique entertainment.—Dublin Freeman's
Journal, May 20.