The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-26 00:00:00

ASTLEY'S THEATRE.

The drama of " Rookwood" has been succeeded by
another piece of large dimensions, entitled " The Arab
of the Desert_ and his Faithful Steed," in which the
equestrian talent of the establishment is, as usual, con-
spicuously shown. The Arab has a wife whose charms
have inflamed the fancy of a Pacha, who is not in the
habit of saying nay to himself. To see the fair Orah is
but to desire to possess her; and he concerts measures
accm.dingly, The lady, however, is not to be tempted ;
but villence is resorted to, and she is kidnapped. The
bad odour in which the Pacha lives influences the events
which follow. He is betrayed by a Mauaelake whom he
has taken into his service, and who has an old score to
settle with him, and the upshot is that an attack of the
eliemy demolishes both him and his power, and gliTiously
succours distressed virtue. The piece is a good one of
its class, and exhibits the ingenuity of Mr. Cooke in the
preparation of such spectacles, and employing advan-
tageously his troop of Well-trained steeds. One of the
quadrupeds, named Reindeer, comes out with uncom-
mon force. Belonging t ) the insulted and afflicted Arab,
he assists him at several serious junctures—feeds him
when he is starving, and finds him a sword when he is
in sore straits for one. Reindeer, in fact, is equal to
all emergencies, and his sagacity is .4o less edifying than
Ids ,:ocility.

The piece is Put gaily upon '.:re stage, and the various
tableaux uphold Mr. Cooke's credit in the arts of produc•
ing striking inelodranv:,,lc effects —a showy Oriental
ballet being also a,mo.,g the incideut9.

ROYAL SW BDISII RAILWAY COMPANY.

The ijommittee of the Stack Exchange yesterday
took into consideration the peculiar circumstances
connected with the is-sue of shares and obligations
of the Royal Swedish Railway Company by the late
Mr. John Sadleir, and adopted the following reso-
lution, postponing the settlement of outstanding
transactions, and discountenancing for the present
any further operations in them :
" Under the peculiar circumstances that have been
brought to the notice of the committee regarding the po-
sition of the shares and obligations of the Royal Swedish
Railway Company, the committee is of opinion that it
would be detrimental to the general interest of the public
and the Stock Exchange if any settlement in outstand-
ing bargains in those shares and obligations took place
at present ; and the settling in the same is postponed ac-
cordingly.
"Alp resolved—That no new trausaetions in the
shares or obligations of the Royal Swedish Railway C
pony will be recognised by the committee until further
notice."

The mortal remains of the late Duke of Norfolk were
consigned to the family vault, at Arundel, this morning,
with heraldic honours.

Tiscount Combermere has been suffering from a severe
attack of the prevailing influenza, at Combermere
Abbey. His lordship has now quite recovered, and en-
joys his usual riding exercise several hours daily.
Mr. Glyn, the member for Kendal, has no less than
four sons serving their country in the Crimea.
The Speaker will hold his first levee on Saturday next,
the Ist of March, at balf-past 10 o'clock p.m.
- Orders have been sent to Southampton to prepare the
Candia, one of the seven large war transports now fit-
ting out at Southampton, for embarkingtroops on board
of her.

DEATH OF GENERAL GREY, K.C.B.—General Sir J.
Gray, who for some time was Commander-in-Chief at
Bombay, and whose grandfather was a brother of the
first Earl Grey, died at his seat at Morwick, in the county
of Northumberland, last week.
THE SUNDAY QUESTION.—We are requested to state
that Lord Chelsea was accidentally excluded from the
division on Sir J. Walmsley's motion, it having been his
lordship's intention to vote against it.
DEPARTURE OF MR. BUCHANAN.—The Lord Mayor
and the Lady Mayoress have issued cards of invitation
for a dinner at the Mansion-house on Wednesday next,
to meet the American Minister, previous to his departure
for the United States, and to which many of the mer-
chants engaged in the American and Canadian trades,
members of the House of Commons and of the corpora-
tion, have been invited.
The Sacred Harmonii Society will perform Mr.
Costa's oratorio "Eli," for the third and last time this
season on Friday night.
PANOPTICON. Handel's "Avis and Galatea " was
given at this institution last night, by way of commemo-
rating the birth of the great composer, which took place
on the 24th of Feb., 1684. The performance was:respect-
able, the solos being sung by Miss Lyon, Mrs. Henry
Drayton, Mr. Henry Drayton, and Mr. George Perren,
the Orpheus Glee Union lending their assistance in the
chornases. Mr. Chipp presided at the organ. The at-
tendance of visitors was large; and the music Was lstened
to with Ciidant pleaguri and attention.