The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-10 00:00:00

A sT TiEVS.

In resuming the reins of management, after an
interval of several years, Mr. Batty has, at the out-
set,given an assurance to thepublic that ourancient
metropolitan—it may almost be called our national
—circus shall resume the high-position in popular
favour which it held during the first half at leastof
the present century. Since the termination of Mr.
Cooke's lease the theatre has been entirely redeco-
rated and renovated. The gilding has been restored,
the draperies renewed, the fronts of the boxes have
been enriched by additional medallions and bas-
relief groups appropriate to the speciality of the
house—and which thrown up, as they were, upon
a delicately green-tinted ground, picked out with
red, white, and gold—give a rich and at the same
time an agreeable light aspect to the entire pro-
scenium. The general appearance is further im-
proyed by a very handsome central chandelier, and

by the substitution of glass lustres for the orchestra
side lights.
The opening piece with which last night Easter
tide was ushered in is an English version of an
equestrian drama, which at Franconi's, or at the
Cirque Imperial, in Paris, is, we believe, just now
attracting considerable attention--" L'llistoirc d'un
l)rapcau." The English title is a literal translation
of the French, and is of itself almost a sufficient in-
dication of the nature, character, and incidents of
the drama. " The llistory of a Flag" is an Astleyan
account of the wars and victories of Napoleon the
Great during the Consulate, the Empire, and down
to the return from Elba, and as such affords ample
scope for the display of the peculiar and varied re-
sources of this establishment. The action opens at
the time when Napoleon is hard pressed by the
Austrians, and when volunteers arc wanted to
reci uit the army in Italy. A certain locality in
Paris determines to raise a regiment from amongst
its inhabitants, and the maids, wives, and widows
make and present to them the tricoloured ensign
which is to be their rallying signal in the day of
battle. The vicissitudes of this regiment in the
campaigns in Italy, in Egypt, and in Russia, afford
ample opportunities fer those mimic battle scenes
and semblances of warfare which have done as much,
perhaps, in establishing the reputation at Astlev's
as the actual conflicts so represented have done in
immortalising the names of Wellington, Napoleon,
and the other great generals engaged in them.
There is, as a matter of course, a tale of love, jea-
lousy, and revenge, involving numerous acts of
generous heroism and devoted affection on the part
of the hero and heroine, and of base ingratitude,
treachery, and scoundrelism in every phase on the
part of the orthodox ♦illain—without whose pre-
sence no drama, whether of the equestrian, plebeian,
or any other order, could be complete. The scenery
is exceedingly good ; the dresses—especially the
military uniforms—are correct and appropriate ;
and the groupings and management of the various
actions in which the flag whose story they illus-
trate bears a part the charges of cavalry—the
attacks of infantry the evolutions of artil-
lery, in which some hundred or more of
men and a score or two of horses are the
actors—afford a notion of the toil and danger
of the battle-field sufficiently near to the real to
satisfy all who are not deeply imbued with that
martial spirit which has lately been gaining such
strength amongst us. The piece was highly suc-
cessful; and Mr. Holloway, Mr. George Belmore,
and others of the principal performers, were called
before the curtain to receive the reward generally
awarded to favourite performers at the fall of the
curtain when the audience are more than usually
satisfied with their exertions. Mr. -William Batty,
too, the lessee, was compelled, in obedience to loud
and long-continued calls, to make his bow in fron

of the curtain, in acknowledgment of the congratu-
lations of his patrons on his successful effort in
catering for their amusement.

The scenes in the circle were worthy of Astley's
palmiest days, the chief equestrians being Wiles.
Berg, Monet, and Marie, and Herr Fernando, from
the continental cirques; and amongst well-known
and established favourites, Mr. 11. Williams and
Jonathan Jack, Messrs. Charles Watson and
Thorne, as the clowns of the ring, promise to up-
hold the character of the house for that species of
humorous accompaniment to equestrian perform-
ances which time-honoured custom has made almost
a necessity.