The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-20 00:00:00

ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT 1
GARDEN, under the sole Management of Miss Louisa
Pyne and Mr. W. Ilarrison.—The public are respectfully in-
formed that this new and el,gant Theatre will be OPENED
for the first ENGLISH 01'El:A SEASON THIS EVENING
Dec. 20, when will be presented an entirely new and original
Opera, by Mr. W. llalie, entitled SATANELLA ; or, THE
POWER OF LOVE.
Conductor—Mr. Alfred Mellon.
After which tin; National Anthem.
Commence at Seven,

•
ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean.
TII IS EVENING will be presented Shakspere's Tragedy of
MACBETH.
Macbeth, Mr. C. Kean ; Lady Macbeth, Mrs. C. Kean.
. • .... . •

Preceded by a new Farce, in one act, entitled
THIRTY-THREE NEXT BIRTHDAY,

THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone.
T ETENING will be performed a new Comedy,
TUE TEID OF TIME. Messrs. Buckstone, Chippendale
&c. ; Mesdamei Reynolds and Poynter.
A new Spanish Ballet, THE INFLUENCE OF GRACE.
in which PereaNena will appear.
THE TQODLES. Sir Wm. Don, Bart.
And A DAUGHTER TO MARRY.
Commence at 7.

R OYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Manager, Mr. Edmund Falconer,
Will be Opened for the season on CHRISTMAS EVE, Fri-
day? Dec. 24, when will be produced a new Burlesque, written
expressly for the Lyceum Company by Robert B. Brough,
and entitled THE SIEGE OF TROY. The new and gor-
geous scenery by Mr. William Callcott. The principal cha-
racters by Mrs. Keeley, Miss Julia St. George, Mrs. Weston,
Mhss.Portman, Miss Talbot, Miss Kate Saxon, Miss E. Romer,
&c. ; Mr. Emery, Mr. Charles Young, Mr. Ellerton, Mr. .f.
Rogers, Mr. Barrett, /to. ; Misd Itasina Wright, Miss 31.
Charles, Miss Harriet Dalton, and a numerous Corps de Bal-
let will also appear.
After the Burlesque a new Comic Pantomime, replete with
new tricks and mechanical devices, entitled HARLEQUIN
TOY HORSE ; or, The Cremorne Fete. Clown, Mr Charles
Lauri ; Ifarlaquin; Mr. John Lauri ; Pantaloon-, Mr. Henry
Lauri • Columbine, 31158 Jenny Lauri.
The 'Performanees will commence on Friclay,"3londay, and
Tuesday with the Comedietta of TOO MUCH FOR GOOD
NATURE.
A Morning Performance of the Burlesque and Pantomime
on Boxing-day, to commence at two o'clocky preoisel ; doors
open at half-past one.
Reduced Prices—Dress Boxes, 4s. ; Upper Boxes, 3s. ; Pit,
2s. • Stalls, ss. ; Gallery, ls.
Box-office upen from 11 to 5 daily. Doors open at half-past
6, to commence at 7 every evening. -

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE,
Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, THE RULE OF THREE.
After which TILE MAID AND THE MAGPIE.
THE LITTLE SAVAGE.
And THE BONNIE FISH WIFE.
Commence at 7 o'clock.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE,
Westminster-road.

Sole Lessee, Mr. William Cooke. •
THIS EVENING, and four following nights, the great
Eastern Spectacle of THE REVOLT IN INDIA; tr, The
Fugitives and their Faithful Steed.
After which SCENES IN THE ARENA, introducing Mr.
W. Cooke, and his beautiful horses, Mr. Runnels, Madame
Blanche, Miss Emily Cooke, Madame Fleurette, and the finest
troupe of equestrians in the kingdom.
To conclude with the Farce of SHOOTING THE MOON.
A famous, magnificent, and matchless Christmas Panto-
mime on Boxing-night, entitled HARLEQUIN BARON
MUNCHAUSEN-; or, The King of the Pumpkins, unprece-
dented for comicality and splendour.
Dress Circle, 3s. ; Boxes, 2s. ; Pit, ls, ; Galleries, 6d.
Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips.

CANTERBURY HALL, Westminster-road.--
Proprietor -C. MORTON.
The public is most respectfully -informed that the FM
ARTB GALLERY, in connection witk the above Hall, IS NOW
OPEN DAT AND NIGHT, from 11 o'clock' a.m. until 12
o'clock p.m. The New Gallery contains an extensive Collec-
tion of -Pictures, by Ancient and Modern Masters • and is also
devoted to Art productions generally. The Proprietor feels
he may confidently assert that, viewed altogether, the exist-
ing 3lusie Hall, the New Fine Arts Gallery, and the recently
added Ante-Hall, will present an attraction which, whether
as regards the architectural beauty of the structures them-,
selves, or the varied and hitherto unattempted combinations
`within, will be found to be wholly without parallel in the
'Kingdom. .
The MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT commences as usual at
-Seven o'clock.
', In addition to the usual entertainment, the SAUVLET
FAMILY, of Amsterdam, Eight in number, whose varied
instrumental performances have created so marked a sensa-
tion in the principal cities and towns of the Continent, will
perform every Evening at Nine and Eleven o'clock.

THE WEATHER.-SVN OFFICE, DEC. 19.

THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.

52—highest since noon yesterday.
49—lowest this morning and during the night.
49—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-29.50.
WIND, S.W. ; light, with fine sunshiny weather—rain in
-the evening. Heavy rain in the night.

Dec. 20.

si—highest since noon yesterdriy.
41—lowest this morning and during the night.
46-7-this day at noon.

BAEOMETER-29.66—r1sing.
WIND, South-Westerly; light.and fine.

THE SUN.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 20,.1858.

--T-

tincnt.

The customary gauge has been applied to the
engineering enterprise of Englishmen during the
past twelvemonth. It will be found upon exami-
nation to have yielded results in several particulars
more than usually satisfactory. The annual test
to which allusion is here made :is, of course, no
other than the Report of the. 'Comcil sub-.
mitted at the close of each session- to the Institu-
tion of Civil Engineers. This resume for 1858,
however, reveals at the outset a very striking pecu-
liarity, namely, the distinguishing fact that in the
United kingdom itself there has not been any gene-
ral resumption of works either of public utility or
of private enterprise. One probable' reason for.
this- being .the circumstance of a considerable
proportiz-oa of the professional engagements leaning
Ott: 11tu!...1,-3.ltitt'tti engt?cers into .foeeign countries,
and into British Colonial possessions. It is never-
theless euricins, at the same time; to note that, sav-
ing in the construction of branch lines, but compa-
ratively little progress has been made in the exten-
sion of .the xailway system upon the European Con-
A magnificent project has certainly,
it must be admitted, taken another step in
advance, in the empire of Austria, towards its ulti-
mate real;sation. The Lombardo-Venetian Company
having within the last few months united the majo-
rity of the principal lines—thereby tending to
hasten the formation eventually of that grand and
symmetrical chain of trunk railways, extending
continuon.ly over a distance of very nearly two
thousand miles altogether ! A comprehensive
system, at the very lowest computation of nearly
1,900 miles of railway—connecting Italy with
Austria, Hungary, and Southern Germany, " ex-
tending in an unbroken line from Vienna to Milan,
and from the Bavarian frontier to Florence." Con-
siderable progress has been simultaneously made
in the development of the railway system in Spain
and Portugal, in llussiq, Turkey, and Piedmont.
Conspicuous among the more recently conceived de-
signs being one, by the way, which proposes to carry
a line from Nice to the railway at Voltri and thence
to Genoa, along the Cornice-road bordering the
l' Mediterranean. The Victor Emmanuel line i'avinc,
in the meantime been completed to the foot of the
mountains, and the Cyclopean labour of timeipog
the Alps actually 0014menced- So that the engi-
neers, combining scientifically the achi eve!nen' 48 of
HANNIBAL and NAPOLEON, appear to be bent at tmee
upon " turning the Alps" and cutting their way
through them—employing pick and shovel, in,lieu
of vinegar, in the latter herculean enterprise.
it Together with the account 'of the progress made
in the European system of railways, we find in the
report of the council, submitted on the 14th inst.
to the Insititution of Civil Engineers, satisfactory
allusions to the advance made in the same direc-
tion, on the one hand immediately at home, and on
the other at the opposite extremities of thelarth,
even at our very antipodes. Referring to the rail-
roads in Hindostan, the report says, as encou-
ragingly as sententiously, that—" In India the

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