The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-04 00:00:00

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPIIITIIEATRE.

The talented lessee has nobly redeemed his promise to
reproduce the celebrated spectacle of "Mazeppa, or the
Wild Horse of Tartary," in all its pristine splendour. In
order to accomplish his task, he has not only had to increase
his dramatic company, but to secure the assistance of an
immense body of auxiliaries, in order to again delight the
public with this well-written and exciting equestrian and
dramatic entertainment, and truly may Mr. Batty affirm,
"that not only has it been produced with the greatest pos-
sible care to all its original extraordinary and bril-
liant effects, but with a dsire to eclipse them, bringing
into requisition the vast resources of this unequalled esta-
blishment, and introducing the largest stud of highly
trained horses, ponies, buffaloes, camels, &c. in the world.
The new scenery, by Messrs. Cuthbert and Thorne, reflects
the highest credit upon those talented gentlemen, while
the wonderful stage effects produced is the tournament
scene, with its carousal and chivalric sports, the panorama
pourtraying the flight of the wild horses, and the conclud-
ing tableau the destruction of the enemy's castle
and triumph of Mazeppa, must be seen to be appreciated,
as description would convey but a faint idea of the actual
reality. The principal characters were sustained by Miss
Seaman and Miss Emily Scott, Mr. G. B. Ellis, Mr. Walter
Carle, Mr. T. Harris, Mr. G. Belmore, and Mr. Walter
Roberts. The latter gentleman, who sustained the part of
Mazeppa, is new, we believe, to the metropolitan boards,
and he no doubt will be a great acquisition in
melo-dramatic characters. To finish our present notice
of the interesting performance, without praising the
horse for his part of the performance, would be like award-
ing honours to all the characters in the tragedy of
" Hamlet," omitting altogether those belonging to the
unhappy Danish Prince. We therefore, in a word, pro-
nounce the training of the horse to be perfection. At the
fall of the curtain the applause was tumultuous, and for
months to come " Mazeppa" will attract thousands to the
Royal Amphitheatre.

Letters from Sicily state that two forts are being
erected at Palermo to defend the port. The construction
of railways in the island is now in contemplation' and
French and Genoese capitalists are causing surveys to be
made. The son of Garibaldi has arrived at Palermo, to
recover from his wound. Several Neapolitan officers who
had deserted are stated to have arrived at Palermo; they
announce that they are shortly to be followed by others.
A battalion of sharpshooters, after the Piedmontese system,
is being formed in Sicily.
AID FOR. GARIBALDI.—The Queen of England,
a splendid screw steam ship, purchased by the agents of
Garibaldi in Liverpool, sailed from that port on Friday
night for Sicily. The Queen of England was well stored
with muskets, ammunition, &c., and a large quantity of
hospital matdriel shipped by the Ladies' Garibaldi Society,
Loudon.

LITERATURE,

The Reliquary. No. I. Edited by Llewellynn
Jewitt, F.S.A.
_

A welcome is certainly due to this charming
little " Depository for precious relics, historical,
legendary, and biographical." Edited by a learned
and delightful author like Mr. Llewellyne Jewitt,
already favourably known as a poet by his An-
tcnnce, and as an archaeologist and topographer
through his entertaining Matlock Vompanion—the
RELIQUARY-a little antiquarian quarterly (price
half-a-crown, published in London, at 36, Soho-
square, and in Derby, at the Irongate), augurs well
for itself through the initial number here submitted
by its projectors to our consideration. There are
in this first number upwards of a dozen separate
contributions, several of them embellished with ap-
propriate woodcut illustrations. Mr. Thomas
Bateman leads off with a curious paper on certain
Norman and Anglo-Saxon coins minted at Derby—
the editor of The Reliquary following hard
noon his heels with a chapter on " Funeral
garlands," and later on in the number
with a very singular treatise on Fern
Plant Superstitions. Dr. Spencer Hall has a
brief essay on John Gratton, the Quaker Preacher
of Monyash, while the Rev. J. Deans affords us an
eldritch glimpse of some diabolical wall-paintings,
on the church at Melbourne. Among the
lighter contributions deserve to be particularised
an original ballad by Richard Howitt, recounting
" The Legend of Sir Francis Leke," and a most
touching and melodious lyric by James Orton, au-

th or of 4The Enthusiast." As indicative of the enter-
prize with which Mr. L. Jewitt has entered upon
his editorial management of the .Reliquary, it may be
mentioned that its second number, announced to
appear on the Ist of September, will contain (says
a fly-leaf note), " besides many highly important
and valuable papers of the highest eminence, the
first of a series of illustrated articles on the mansions
of the country—appropriately commencing with
Hardwick Hall, special access to the treasures of
which, and of Chatsworth, having been kindly
granted for the purpose by the Duke of Devon-
shire." Added to which that forthcoming second
number will be adorned with a record of the " Love-
steps of Dorothy Vernon," by Silverpen ! There is
good promise, then, for this little new-born and
yet old-fashioned adventurer among our quarterly
periodicals.