The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-05 00:00:00

GALLERY OF ILLUSTRATION.

On Wednesday night Mr. and Mrs. German
Reed and Mr. John Parry gave an entirely new
entertainment, called " Ou'l. Card Basket," written
by Mr. Shirley Brooks, The combination of three
performqs, of cou:ese, results in giving the new
entertainment 'a dramatic character, Mr. Reed
has PrevV..ed himself with a Chamberlain's
license-, under cover of which he has no
oceP..sion to fear the disagreeable results which
follow a too comprehensive construction of the well-
known " Act of George the Second." " Our Card
Basket" has a plot not very novel or complicated,
it is true ; but yet a plot enough to give greater
force and applicability to the various assumptions
of character. A married couple of the name of
Candytuft, who have recently taken a villa at Rich-
mond, find they are not visited, and that a false
impression is current as to their former social posi-
tion. To obviate this scandal, Mr. Candytuft sends
for an old lawyer, Mr. Babbleton, to wham
he gives instructions to prepare a will, bequeathing
property to a fabulous amount—being perfectly
certain that old Babbleton will chatter of his neW
client's wealth all over Richmond. Such is the
case ; visitors begin to pour in, among them a Miss
Clutchley, a beggar for charitable institutions;
Major Popley, a superannuated old buck; a Miss
Absinthe, a passee prancer, a French girl with a.
dog (an absurd character, utterly out of place) ;
hunting gentleman ; and three sisters, the Mine*
Pry, all dressed alike, and creating great laughter
by their actions.
Between the parts Mr. John Parry, in his own
person, and seated at the piano in his old fashion,
sings a song in the style for which he was formerly
so celebrated. The subject is the visit of a juvenile
party to a pantomime, and, with appropriate in-
strumental accompaniments and clever imitations,
the whole scene is presented in a most amusing
form, illustrated moreover with a portfolio of
capital sketches,

Altogether the new entertainment is calculated
equally with those which have gone before to please
the public, and to exhibit in the most advantageous
manner the peculiar talents of Mr. and Mrs. Reed
and Mr. Parry, whose excellences are so well known
as to render praise superfluous.

TILE BRITIBII VOLUNTEER i v
_ROME

A letter, dated Rome, March 30, says :—" Politics
have been out of season during the past week in
this Most Holy and Eternal City, and in lieu of
them we have had a surfeit of the pomps and
ceremonies of the Roman Church, blessing of
people and palm branches, washing of feet and
altars, baptising of Jews, misereres and stabat
maters. " A great many strangers have come to
Rome for the pageant; hotels and lodging houses
are crowded, and conveyances at a premium. No
very extraordinary incidents have marked the pro.
gress of the ceremonies, at which, as usual, the
English have composed an important section of
the spectators. The British Volunteer exhi-
bited himself in various fantastical uniforms,
exciting much speculation among the French
as to what branch of the service he could pos-
sibly belong to. The conjectures of the Artillery-
men at St. Angelo, as they leaned over the parapet
way the
alt
ano
nd t
ai Vdb ali
vat
el cdkaana,
leather ei
nr e
v aemrhyeu
Istnianl
legit tbowo loai
tssst
se
nna
scanning the carriage loads that crossed the bridge
on theinrceowagat
stcoa. rleOt
especial puzzle to them—even the old Crimean
being at a loss to decide upon his corps. I believe
it was finally settled that he was either a Life
Guardsman or a fireman. It is a very difficult
thing to
prevent an Englishman from wearing a
uniform when he can establish any pretext for it,
and particularly when it saves him the necessity of
turning out in a black dress suit at 9 a.m., but I think
the general feeling is that the British Volunteers
would do best to wear their Volunteer dress only is
the British islands. This is a matter of taste, and
none can deny their right to wear the clothes they
themselves have paid fbr ; but they must make up
their minds to be looked upon as National Guards,
and to endure the searching criticism of foreign
military men. Of course, there were many French
at all the ceremonies, and a story is current of
slight collision which took place yesterday in St.
Peter's between an officer and one of the great dig-
nitaries of the Pope's household. An Italian,
having pushed against the latter, laid the blame
upon some French:officers who, he said, were push-
ing him, and to whom the Monrsignore thereupon
addressed reproachful words, saying that French
soldiers were not wanted there. The officer to
whom this remark was more particularly directed_
is said to have apostrophised the Monsignore
the epithet " Imbecile !" to which a Colonel who
gentle-
man if the French were not here the rev. gen
stood by added the 12ungent and. truthful remark
man would not be here either."

INDIAN FAMINE EL LIEF FUND.--Yesterday the
subscriptions received at tho Mansion House in aid of thin
fund amounted to upwards of £2,000, which raised the
total amount down to last night to about £23;000.