The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-28 00:00:00

COLONIAL.

TEA. —The market has been very inactive, but price' are
well supported. Common congou realised ls. Odd. per lb.
A considerable quantity is aevertised for public sale on
Thursday next.
SUQAR.—A good business has been done by private con-
tract at full rates. During the week large quantities are
announced for public competition, and full prices are ex-
pected to b 3 realised.
COFFEE..—Very little business has been reported, and
previous rates are readily accepted by holders. There are
large quantities announced for public competition du -ing
the week.
RlCE.—There is a rather active demand, and full rates
are current for all descriptions.
CINNAMON.—At the quarterly sales of this article an
advance of fully id to 2d per lb. bas been realised for the
first qualities, but other descriptions rule rather lower.
TALLOW.--The market is brisk. P.Y.C., on the spot, is
quoted 58s to 58s 3d; May and June, 55s to 565; and last
three months, 51s por cwt.

M. SOTER.—M. Soyer left Paris yesterday for Lon-
don, on his return from the Crimea, being his first
visit to England since his departure thence on his mis-
sion to the East. Since he quitted the seat of war he
has travelled in various parts of the continent for the
purpose of collecting materials for a future work, which
will comprise the principallnational dishes most in vogue in
various countries. Twice M. Soyer had the honour of an
in erview with the Emperor Louis Napoleon at the Tuile-
ries. He has been deputed, moreover, to visit the
Fourneaux de l'lmperatrice, or soup-kitchens. They
are .sixty-eight* in number, and are established in every
quarter of Paris, as well as in the suburbs. Indepen-
dently of being under the patronage of their Majesties,
they are subject to the inspection of the Prefect of the
Seine, the provisions are supplied by the supervisor of
the italics et marcids and the management, cooking, and
distribution are confided to the Sisters of Charity. No-
thing is given gratis, but the scup and other articles of
food are sold under cost price, thus affording great relief
to the recipients. In the report M. Soyer submitted to
the Emperor he spoke in high terms of these institu-
tions, and proposed several improvements for adoption
on the re-opening of these kitchens next vcint,.r, He
also ictende to introduce several new and cheap recCipts
for tie benefit of the working classes. Ha rawarked
how beneficial it would be if this system were adopted by
all nations—as in the winter season, and especially in
large manufacturing towns, thousands of artisans are
annually thrown out of employment for a time.

ST. JAMES'S TIIRATILE

A really remarkable entertainment—an entertainment
remarkable at once for its splendour and originality=
was given last evening at the St. James's Theatre. It
was the first of three consecutive nights' representations.
It was for the Benefit of the Royal Patriotic Fund, and
was performed under Royal Patronage. As to the cha-
racter of the entertainment—Glint in truth requires some
few words;Of explanation. The performance being all
but unprecedented—what the puff advertisements are in
' the habit of calling " unique." For the " Crimean
Relics," as the entertainment has been designated by its
accomplished Author —Captain F. A. Wilson, K.L.H.,
G.S.—although modestly described in the programme as
merely an Illustrated Concert—was to all intents and
purposes no more a Concert than it was a
Drama, or an Opera, or a Masque, or a Lecture,
or an Entre-Acte, or a Vaudeville, or a Spec-
tacle, or a , Divertissement. But something
very like a 2aelange of all these ingeniously blended
together. It combined, in fact, the charms of musk,
of costume, of scenery, of acting, of singing, of decla-
mation. It appealed to the different senses, either succes-
sively or simultaneously. And it illustrated, as its title
sufficiently well intimates, all that was actually most
worthy of illustration, in regard to the great contest re.
cectly raging ou the shores of the Euxine, between the
legions of Russia and those of the Allied Powers. Cap-
tain Wilson says himself, explicitly enough, in his Pre-
face to the printed libretto, as we may call it, of his Musica-
Dramatic Entertainment, "The object of my design
was to comprise, in rapid sketch, a general review of
our late Crimean campaigns, from the earliest scintilla-
tions of that patriotic spirit, which fired our whole nation
at the first signal of hostilities, and which gradually aug-
mented in proportion as the war progressed, until it at-
tained that enthusiastic intensity which even the advent
of Peace has yet scarcely been able to extinguish."
Adding, "More particularly still did I seek in these
pages to commemorate the-swarlike energy and loyal de-
votion which sudden service in the field so gloriously
awoke in the breasts of a young army, and to p-int in the
vivid and impressive colours of verse and music those
distinguishing traits of character and feeling which are
habitual with the British soldier and sailor when under-
going the dangers and vicissitudes of war; aiming at the
same time to delineate many of the most prominent
duties and details incidental to a camp, and al! with as
much faithful 'adherence as possible to matter of
recorded fact and the simple truth of nature."
This picturesque and patriotic design of his, Cap-
tain Wilson has, we are bound to say, most effec-
tively and powerfully realised. He has in it, we should
conceive, more than fulfilled his most sanguine friends'
expectations. The framework of his " Illustrated
Concert"—as we suppose for %dant of a better exelana-
tory title it must still be designated—admits of being
clearly and succinctly defined as follows :—An opening
Symphony, preluding the First Part—" England"—
discovers on the rising of the curtain a Fortification.
Here " First" and " Second" Goiters (vide Sisakspere's
" Henry V.") are the interlocutors : the first Gower
being a Chelsea Pensioner, and the second Gower a
Greenwich Pensioner. Their dialogue is descriptive‘of the
sudden and startling alarm by which the countrywas roused
from the calm repose consequent upon 40 years almost
uninterrupted tranquillity. Immediately afterwards,
comes "The Last Review" upon the esplanade of Buck-
ingham Palace, followed by an animated chorus "Hurrah
for the Queen I" At the close of which is a song for the
barikne "Hark ! the Trump of War," succeeded by
an inspiriting song chauntod by a Chelsea Pensioner
with a wooden leg and a crutch, who is led on in
marching order by a little boy to the tuck of his
toy drum The soldiers and the crowd mingling
their voices together, drown the din of the sold vete-
ran's ditty and the clatter of the child's plaything
in a grand chorus—" For ward! March !" " Scotland"
is the next scene, and even upon the mountains we
witness "The gathering"—the tenor carolling as a
solo, "The Lass of Balmoral," and the soprano,," Fare-
weel to the Hielands." Presto 1 we have left the pur-
pling heather for the pavement of St. James's !' An offi-
cer of the Guards here votes the tocsin a bore in a blasci
tenor sole, "Ho ! War is Proclaimed I" But a Sergeant
coming in with a bass solo, fraught with stern senti-
ment, they harmonise their views at last in a eerio-
comic duet, changing from the
.andante to tie allegro,
to the celebration of the contending charms of Lady
Phcebe and Mary Muggeridge ! Afterwards mines the
glorification of "The Fleet"—Scene, "A Sea Port"—
Ships riding at anchor—discovered sailors and an old
Commodore. The last-mentioned a very tough old ger-
tlernan, perfectly nautical, amazingly inflammable, and
thoroughly patriotic, as an old Salt should be, sings a
bags song, beginning, " Fresh on the breez's I catch the
scent of roses I" How, say you, "the scent of roses
Listen awhile—

" Such as the lips of British cannon, breathe ;
Roused from a lull old pluck in vain reposes,
Eager to leap like cutlass from its sheath.
Home to the fleet my seaward thought returning,

Pines for the deck, hot broadsides to prepare,
Glory once more sets sailors' bosoms burning,
' Laurels' tho word—and I must reap my share."

Then a sailor entering, with a bundle the old of a
stick, carols a truer ditty, "Fresh hope fil s cheeily."
Ending with this loyal chorus—

" Then hurra, red and blue !
Be the word, jolly crew !
And while fighting through fire and through flame,
Let us still boar in mind
Whate'er danger we find,
Victoria and Victory's the same."

Subsequently comes "The Departure"—scene "A
Railway Station"—among the crowd "Soldiers, Women,
and Children" intersperseil with the "stage business,"
being a Drummer's mezzo soprano song, "The News of
War Fires"—followed by a trio and a quintette. Au
Irish Farewell being succeeded by a Soldier's Chorus.
addressed to the girls they leave behind them—," Come,
Dry your Rosy Cheeks !- Next we have gracefully as
well as gratefully commemorated "The Sistcrs of Mercy,"
two ladies in the Nightingale uniform singing like night-
ingales successively, the fiut (a mezzo sopran*) 0 Lethe,
Blest River !" and the second (a soprano) "0 Time !
Ruthless Time !.' Another soprano song, sung by
another lady similarly equipped, is the prelude to the
tenor Bravura a la Polar.; "Hence, Froward
Care !"—the First Part of the Entertainment thus
ending with a celebration of the patriotic ardour dis-
played by the Gentlemen Volunteers ! Two other Parts
follow the First, commemorative and illustrative
(among other things), of "The Voyage" and "The
Landing," of "The Sentry" and "The Letter," of
"The Trench" and " The Outpost," of "The Bivouac"
and "The Battle." The Third Part—and last—relating
in a humorous strain to "The Forage," in a pathetic
strain to "The Hospital :" the whole winding up with
a Peace of Triumph at the Pacification. One of the
most characteristic scenes in this portion of the enter-
tainment being entitled "Sebastopol's List Valtz"—the
said valtz ending with " A shot from an Euglish gun—
shrieks of alarm without—French officers laughing :
exeunt." For the more eff.:ctive performance of
this very novel and attractive entertainment,
Captain Wilson, author and composer, has secured
the services of a very powerful corps of artistes, together
with a Chorus, Fifty in Number, under the direction of
Mr. Stnythson, aided by as orchestra (presided over by
Mr. Leigh Smith), including Violins, Altos, Violin-
cellos,
Basses, Flutes, Oboes, Clarionets, Bassoons,
Horns, Cornets, Bugles, Fifes, Trumpets, Drums, and
Trombones ! Last evening, as we have said—the First
Night's Performance—was dedicated especially to the
Benefit of the Patriotic Fund ! This evening, Tuesday,
the 28th inst., the proceeds of the entertainment will
be for the benefit of the Fund for the Soldiers' Daughters.
To-morrow, Wednesday, the 29th inst., the Benefit
of the Nightingale Fund will be the aim and object of
the third representation. Assuredly, after what we
have said, it must be obvious to anybody, to everybody,
that it were superfluous to descant upon the extraordi-
nary attractions of this very singular entertainment, as
it would be most certainly a matter of supererogation if
we seriously undertook here to demonstrate its origin-
ality. Captain Wilson's " Crimean Relics" deserve suc-
cess, and that success they will realise. The entertain.
meet has our cordial good wishes, and we doubt not that
it will secure to itself and its ingenious originator a
remarkable degree of popularity.