The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-28 00:00:00

-
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(N . 20,441.)

LONDON, .

ONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1857.

pßovm ENT OLE]
ASSURANCE ASSOCI

RKS' MUTUAL LIFE
ATlON.—Established 1840.

Jack to give heed to " Intelligence," and strives to
allure him from the dangerous temptations of " Igno-
rance," who haunts our hero as pertinaciously as Za-
mid dogs Caspar in the opera. "Proverb" eventually
triumphs. Endowing his pupil with the sword of
"Perseverance," excites him to attack and conquer the
1 various "parts of speech." With the letters of the
alphabet and all that they generate at his command,
Jack carries everything before him, until " Ignorance"
perplexed and baffled, as a last expedient, despatches
him on a sham mission to the depths of the ocean. But
the depths of the ocean cannot escape the searching
power of "Intelligence," who by aid of the electric
cable comes to the rescue of her protege, and entertains
him in her Palace of Coral, or "Fairy Aquarium," as
it is designated in the imaginative vocabulary of panto-
mime. The contest terminating in this victory carries
the audience through a succession of grotesque
scenes, in the course of which all the letters of the
alphabet and all the parts of speech are personified,
while the familiar incidents of the nursery
rhyme are represented in action. Suffice it, the "trans-
formation" (if "transformation that may be called where
the pantomimic characters spring from nowhere) occurs,
suddenly and unexpectedly atthe" Fairy Aquarium," one
of the most gorgeous, ingenious, and magnificent of all
those elaborate scenic combinations for which Mr. W.
Beverley is specially celebrated. No description can do
justice to this decorative display, which must be seen to
be appreciated. As its wonders gradually revealed them-
selves, and the ciroumambient air, no less than terra
firma, became densely peopled with floating nymphs and
soaring fairies, the applause was vociferous and continu-
ous, and a summons, first for Mr. E. T. Smith, the
manager, and next for Mr. Beverley, the artist, repre-
sented the climax of excitement. A halo of blue fire and.
1 electric light from the " wings" then theew an unearthly
glare over the whole ; and the aonclusiaa unanimously.'
arrived at was, that such a scene would alone have in-
sured success.
The harlequinade (and this, after all, most nearly con-
-1 earns the abstract love of pantomime), though unneces-
sarily complex on account of the multiplication of the
1 characteristic personages, is, on the whole, the liveliest,
most amusing, and varied that has been witnessed for
years. So excellent is it, indeed, as not merely to war-
rant but to render advisable a very considerable abridg.
merit of the far less diverting introduction, in order
that no one may be deterred by la a hours from
remaining to the end. The dramatis persona in this legi-
timate and traditionally-respected section of the enter-
tainment include Harlequins (Messrs. Milano and St.
Maine), Dandy (M. Detilin), Sprites (Messrs. Elliott),
Clowns (Messrs. Boleno and Fiexmore), Pantaloons
(Messrs. Nash and W. A. Barnes), Harlequina (Ma-
demoiselle Agnes), Columbines (Madame Bolen° and
Mademoiselle C'eristine)—au " ernbarras de richesses," it
will be admitted. The Messrs. Elliott are remarkably
clever, but their services are almost superfluous, since
now that our clowns themselves ars expected to assume,
and in most instances do assume, the functions of acro.
hats, what need is there of tumbling, attitudinising non-
descripts, whose connexion with the regn!ar " business"
is worse than problematical I Again, Harlequina is out
of place where there are two Columbines—neither of
whom take any notice of one whose relationship to their
spangled mates, from its suspicious nature, would natu-
rally excite their jealousy. And this, without depre-
ciatieg the talent of Mademoist lie Agnes, decidedly the
most sprightly and fascivatiug of the three belies. The
rival Harlequins, Clowns, and Pantaloons may be
admitted without protest, as they may figure in alter-
nate scenes, while their respective adventures have
nothing in common. Moreover, there is plenty for them
to do in the Drury-lane pantomime ; and the untiring
energy andspirit with which they perform their arduous
tasks is creditable to one and all of their representa-
tives. Declining to venture on a detailed account of the
various incidents of the harlequinade, we may single out
from many stirring scenes one in particular—" Mrs.
Soapsud's Laundry and Drying-ground' as fuel of life
and bustle, admirable in every respect, in short, a
veritable " side-splitter." Here Mr. Flexmore—who to
the supple attributes of our modern clown, a hybrid,
inconsistent, posture-making buffoon, unites a large
share of that sly humour and loutish demeanour of Joe
Grimaldi, when to represent Clown successfully be-
longed only to real histrionic talent, were regarded as
the essence of that personage—exhibited his several
accomplishments with singular felicity, eliciting roars of
laughter without intermission. Mr. Flexmore indeed is
the life and soul of the pantomime, and the audience
hold him in such esteem that whatever he attempts is
sure to find favour. Unqualified praise may be also
awarded to Mr. Barnes, a Pantaloon of the good old
type—infirm and shattered, yet instinct with mischief,
and always a victim of scrapes, in which he becomes
entangled by his more versatile and flexible companion.
Nor must the racy type of a dandy of fashion, by M.
Deulin, pass unnoticed.
The tricks and trangformations are more ingenious
and in more rapid alternationtlliew thanr.rm .onf
clpa,twer.ryoeniNedd
his www"bith.livfiLiderkal good- villia-
,...eonsider....:mt
sinus to prevalent topics embraoet almost every subject
that has lately attained notoriety ; and the number of
supernumeraries is so large, their acting so natural, and
their forbearance under countless hardships of the "spill
and pelt " so magnanimous, that it might almost be
believed Mr. E. T. Smith kept a choice preserve of them
somewhere in the neighbourhood of his establishment.
To conclude, pains and expense have evidently not been
spared in the endeavour to provide the holiday folks
with a surfeit of enjoy tnent ; and nothing is required
but a judicious use of the pruning-knife in certain lengthy
passages of the introductory, burlesque to insure for
" Little Jack Horner, or. Harlequin A B C " (afternoon
representations of which, by the way, are announced for
every Wednesday) a long and prosperous "run.

---------
Thomas Baring, Esq., M.P. I Wm. Geo. Prescott, Esq.
Thomson Hankey, Esq., M.P. Baron L.N. de Rothschild,M.P.
TREASURER or THE BENEvOLENT Ft:aux—John Abel Smith, Esq-.

M.P.

Accumulated fund .. • • • ......... £95,000
Annual inc0me.......... ...... .. 27,000

------- ------ -
This Association offers every advantage to all classes desirous 0
assuring.
A Benevolent Fund is attached exclusively for clerks.
WM. THOS. LINFORD, Secretary.
15, Moorgate-street, December, 1857.

OFFICERS PROCEEDING TO INDIA,
also CIVILIANS, can effect ASSURANCES on their
I IVES with the COLONIAL L►FE ASSURANCE COMPANY on
he USUAL TERMS, the Directors Haying RESOLVED NOT TO INCREASE
THEIR RATES at this time.
Premiums can be paid to the Company's Agents at Calcutta, Ma-
dras, or Bombay, or at any other of their Agencies in the East.
The Lireetors also advance Loans on good security for temporary
periods.
The Colonial have Agencies in every British Colony, where Pre-
miums are received, and claims settled.
WILL. THO. THO M SON, Actuary.
SAMUEL R. FERGUSSON, Resident Secretary
in London.

LONDON.... • • ...• • 81, Lombard-street (E.C.)
EDINBURGH (Head-office) .... 5, George-street.
DUBLIN .. 65, Upper Sackvllle-street.
GLA5G0W................58, St. Vincent-street.

ECONOMIC LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY,
6, New Bridge-street, London.
Chairman—HENßY FREDERICK STEPHENSON, Esq.
Deputy-Chairman—ROßEßT BIDDI3LPH, ESQ.

ADVANTAGES—:
Mutual Assurance.
The lowest rates of Premium on the Mutual System.
The whole of the Profits divided every Fifth Year.
An accumulated Capital of • • • • .. £1,575,000
During its existence the Society has paid in Claims.. 1,455,000
Reversionary. Bonuses have, haw added to Policies to
the extent of • • • • • -- • •
The last bonus, declared in 1854, averaged 671. per
cent. on the Premiums paid, and amounted to
Policies in force • • .. • • •
The Annual Income exceeds • • .. • • -
The next Division of Profits will be made in 1859.
Assurances effected prior to 31st December,lBs9, will participate
in the Division of 1863.
Prospectuses and full particulars may be obtained on application
to ALEXANDER MACDONALD, Secretary.

890,000

397,900
7,437
240,000

GUARDIAN FIRE AND LIFE
ASSURANCE COMPANY,
No. 11, Lombard-street, London, E.C.

DIRECTORS.
HENRY HULSE BERENS, Esq., Chairman.
JOHN G. HUBBARD, Esq., Deputy-Chairman.
John Dixon, Esq. John Martin, Esq., M.P.
Francis Hart Dyke, Esq. Rowland Mitchell, Esq.
Air W. M. T. Farquhar, Brt.,M.P. James Morris, Esq.
Sir Walter R. Farquhar, Brt. Henry Norman, Esq.
Thomson Hankey, Esq., Henry R. Reynolds, Esq.
John Harvey, Esq. Sir Godfrey J. Thomas, Bart.
John Labouchere, Esq. John Thornton, Esq.
rohn Loch, Esq. James Tulloch, Esq.
Atevvart Marjoribanks, Esq Henry Vigne, Esq.

TTORS.
A. W. Robarts, Esq. Henry Sykes Thornton, Esq.
Lewis Loyd, jun., Esq. l John Henry Smith, Esq.
George Keys, Esq., Secretary.
• Samuel Brown, Esq., Actuary.
LIFE DEPARTMENT.—Under the provisions of an Act of Par-
the Profits, with Quinquennial Division, or a Low Bate of Premium
without participation of Profits.
The next division of Profits will be declared in June, 1860, when
ill participating Policies which shall have subsisted at least one year
A Christmas, 1859, will be allowed to share in the Profits.
At the five divisions of Fronts made by this Company, the total
reversionary Bonuses added to the Policies have exceeded 913,0001.
At the last valuation at Christmas, 1854, the Assurances in force
amounted to upwards of 4,240,000/. ; the Income from the Life
Branch in 1854 was more than 200,0007. ; and the Life Assurance
Fund (independent of the t fuaranteed Capital) exceeded 1,700,0001.
FOREIGN RISKS.—The Extra Premiums required for the Ea
the
st
nd West Indies, the British Colonies, and the northern parts of
United states of America, have been materially reduced.
INVALID LlVES.—Persons who are not in such sound health as
would enable them to insure their Lives at the Tabular Premiums
may have their Lives insured at Extra Premiums.
LOANS granted on Life Policies to the extent of their values, pro-
dded such Policies shall have been effected a sufficient time to have
attained in each case a value not under 501.
ASSIGNMENTS OF POLICIES.—Written Notices of, received
and registered.
MEDICAL FEES paid by the Company, and no charge will be
made for Policy Stamps.
Notice is hereby Given, That Fire Policies which expire at
Christmas must be renewed within fifteen days at this Office, or with
Mr. S •iMS, No, 1, St. James's-street, corner of Pall Mall, or with
the Company'
come Agents throughout the Kingdom, otherwise they be-
come void.
Losses caused by Explosion of Gas are admitted by this Company.

AUDI'

- ESTABLISHED 1841.
MEDICAL, INVALID, AND GENERAL
LIFE OFFICE, 25, Pall-mall, London.;
Empowered by special Act of Parliament.
Ey the Annual Report of 1853, it appeared that the number of
Policies then in force was 3,434, insuring 1,337,5001., and yielding an
income of 55,2071.
At the Sixteenth Annual Meeting, held on the 26th November
1857, it was shown that on the 30th June last--
The number of Policies in force was • • ••• 6,255
The amount insured was• .•• 2,917.11981. 135. 10d.
The annual Income was- 125.11 EL Is. Bd.

PRINCESS'S.

Two Bonuses have been declared (in 1848 and 1853), adding nearly
2 per cent. per annum on the average to sums assured, and by 'which
a Policy of 1,0001. issued in 1842 on a healthy life Is now increased to
1,2601.
Profits divided every five years—next division in 1858.
The Society, since its establishment, has paid claims on 781
Policies, assuring 312,8841.
Assurances are effected at home or abroad on healthy lives, at as
moderate rates as the most recent data will allow.
Indian Assurances at very moderate rates, and great facilities
given to assurers.
Invalid lives assured on scientifically constructed tables.
Policies issued free of Stamp duty, and every charge but the Pre-
mium.
Active working Agents wanted for vacant places.
Prospectuses, Forms of Proposals, and every other information,
nosy be obtained of the Secretary at the Chief Office, or on applica-
tion to any of the Society's Agents in the couSI nt
NGry.
C. DOUGLAS ER, Secretary.

THE INTERNATIONAL LIFE
ASSURANCE SOCIETY,
142, Strand, London.
Empowered by Act of Parliament, for LIFE ASSURANCE, SUR-
VIVORSHIPS, ANNUITIES, ENDOWMENTS, &c.

actorial capacity, HAYMARKET.
Mr. Buckatone, of whom, loth in his managerial and
puts his hand to he embelliehes—nil tetigit quod non
ornavit —has worthily su,tained the reputation of his
it may be justly said that whatever ho
theatre by the production of the patiteruitne of "The
Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, or Harlequin and the
Spiteful Fairy." Among those pretty nursery tales
which are never altogether forgotten in after-life by chil
dren of a larger growth, that of the Sleeping Beauty is
one of the most pleasing and attractive ; and in the
Haymarket Pantomime its well-known incidents are in•
geniously and effectively treated by Mr. Bucketone, in
a vein of the richest burlesque, and beautifully illus-
trated by the magic pencil of Calcott. Miss Louise
Leclerq, the celebrated Tepsichorean star, as the Sleep-
ing Beauty, bore away the first henours of the evening.
With an extremely pretty face and figure, a clear, sweet
delivery,
and fairy feet that beat the ground with even
more sparkling rapidity than those of Perea Nena her-
self, she W £.B in all respects a charming repro entative of
the enchanted heroine of the legend. Miss Fanny
Wright, to whom was assigned the twofold duty of per-
sonating the Spiteful Fairy in the opening, and sub.e
quently the gay ael
graceful Columbine, acquitted
herself in both parts to perfect sa, iefaci ion. In the
comic portion the two most arduous charaott re were
filled with great ability and success by Messrs. Arthu-
and Charles Leclerq, of high provincial reputation. The
former, as Harlequin, displayed extraordinary activity
and lightness of action, together with the utmost pace
and precision in dancing. The other is an excellent
clown, possessed of wondrous agility and muscular
pliancy, as well as a fertile vein of humour, never dege•
nerating into vulgarity. Both are unquestionably first,
rate pantomimists, and were ably assisted by the fair
Columbine, and by Mr. Mackay as Pantaloon. The
transformation scene was particularly splendid, and the
entire was a perfect success. The house was densely
crowded.

DIRECTORS.
EDMOND SIIEPPARD SYMES, M.D., Chairman.
Wm. Kenworthy Browne, Esq. Henry J. Hodgson, Esc!.
Samuel King-Church, Esq. John Moss, Esq.
John Elliotson, M.D., Cantab., John Symes, Esq.
F.R.S. Joseph Thompson, Esq.
SECRETARY TO THE BOARD.
Alexander Richardson, Esq.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.
Aigustus Blonde!, Esq.

AUDITORS.

Professor Wheatstone, F.R.S., and Professor J. Radford Yeang.

MEDICAL REFEREE GENERAL.
J. Elliotson, M.D., Cantab , F.R.S., 37, Conduit-street.
ACTUARY.
W. S. B. Woolhouse, Esq., F.R.A.S., F.S.S.,
ASSISTANT ACTUARY.
Barker Woolisouse, Esq.

SINKERS.
Messrs. Glyn, Mills, and Co., 67, Lombard-street.
SOLICITORS.
Messrs. Gregory, Gregory, Skirrow, and Roweßife, Bedford-row.

The next Quinquennial Division of Profits will be declared in
May, 1860.

Examples of Bonus up to May, 1855 :

Bonus in
Sum addition Bonns in
Assured. t Su n Cash.
Assured.
£
X s. d. •
8. d.
3,000 867 17 7 424 1 4
4,000 749 4 0 325 16 0
2,000 232 18 0 156 15 0
2,000 154 2 8 103 16
2,800 120 17 0 72 14 6

permanent
Iteuction of
Annual Pre-
mium•

.£ s. d.
56 3 8
32 0 4
)6 6 0
10 15 2
6 7 7

The following are amongst the advantages offered by the Inter-
stational Life Assurance Society :
The Society was established in 1838.
Two-thirds of the profits are divided amongst the assured every
five years.
Its subscribed capital is five hundred thousand pounds.
Its investments, at the date of the last annual report, amounted
to one hundred and seventy-one thousand pounds.
Its annual income is ninety thousand pounds.
The number of policies now in lorce exceed six thousand.
About one thousand new policies are added every year.
Since its commencement the Society has paid in claims upwards
of three hundred and twenty thousand pounds.
For prospectuses and every other information, apply to the Chair-
man, 142, Strand.
EI3OI,,IOIsTD S. STASES, Chairman.
142, Strand, London,

LYCEUM.

(From the Times

Tho audience which assembled at this theatre on
Saturday evening to do honour to Boxing night was one
which might well gratify the eyes and gladden the heart
of a manager. It was made evident that no tightness
in the money-market can deter the lovers of pantomime
from celebrating this their fete par excellence, for the
opening of the doors was the signal for a general rusb,
which in a very short time filled the theatre from pit to
ceiling. The large assemblage, however, conducted
itself with the utmost decorum, and but for the
crowd and the number
of juvenile faces the ab-
sence of the usual noisy demonstration from the
inhabitants of the upper regions might have led any
one to doubt whether we were going, as our friends
on the other side of the Channel say, to "assist"
at the inauguration of a Christmas pantomime.
One gentleman, indeed, under theinfluence of the
drama or of drams, thinking that his genius for the
mimic art excelled that of the actors on the stage, during
the progressof one of the acts of the first piece treated
the company to a different reading of the play, but his
efforts en amateur were brought to an ignominous ter-
mination, for they ended in his summary eviction from
the theatre, and consegeent loss of the pantomime, but
whether ho continued his oration for the benefit of the
neighbouring cabstand this deponent knoweth not. The
first piece performed was Mr. Morton's comedy of
" Speed the Plough," which, strange to say, considering
the onea;:ion, was listened to with great attention, and,
stranger still, a rustic dance in the second act was actu-
ally encored—a fact perhaps without a parallel in the
annals of Boxing night. At the close of the comedy it
was evident that every one considered that the real
business of the evening was about to commence, and after
a short interval the symptoms of impatience which had
become very apparent and very noisy among the dii
majores were pat an end to by the orchestra performing
,n overture arranged by Mr. Spillane, and which com-
prised a very judicious selection of popular airs. The
pantomime, which is from the pen of Mr. Buckstone,
is
entitled "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, or Harle-
quin and the Spiteful Fairy," and is founded upon the
welt-known story of the Sleeping Beauty, the produc-
tion we believe of Monsieur Perrault. The opening

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introduces the spectator to that particular por-
tion of the residence of a king and queen,
who had been married for many years without
having any children, which is generally the last part
of a house to which strangers are admitted--namely,
the nursery ; and the royal baby who has at length
blessed their hopes is discovered under the care
of the royal nurses, Sairey Gamp, Betsey Prig, and the
finally discovered Mrs. Harris. Great was the royal gra-
tification, and, in order to celebrate in a becoming
manner so auspicious an event, invitations are despatohed
to all the fairies of 'standing in the neighbourhood re-
questing them to stand godmothers to the princess. One
old fairy, however, whose general amiability of character
and disposition had earned for her the sebri pet of Old
Spiteful, was accidentally or designedly omitted from the
list, and therefore, bent upon revenge, acts the part of a
wet blanket upon the occasion of the presentation of pre-
sents upon christening, making her appearance and de-
claring that when the princess arrived at woman's estate
she would prick her finger with a spindle and die in
consequence. Wickedness at least in a pantomime is
always doomed to disappointment, and the vengeance of
old Spiteful is frustrated by the superior power of a
beneficent fairy, who promises sOte arrange affairs that
the princess should not die, but only sleep 100 years,
then to be awakened by a King's son, who, of course,
was to fall in love with her at sight.. The King forbids
the use of spindles throughout the land, bat it is impos-
Sible to avoid destiny, so that when the Princess grows
up she escapes from the guardianship of the paternal
eye, and, finding an old woman spinning, in her endea-
vours to assist her she receives the fatal wound. She
falls asleep, and with her, to keep company are all the
Maids of Honour, gentlemen, officers, stewards, cooks,
scullions, running footmen, guards, porters, pages, and
valets. The hundred years!, although a lengthened period
'fora nap, is not interminable, and in due course the
King's son arrives, becomes enamoured of her, wakes
her, and claims her as his bride. Old Spiteful, however,
vows to destroy their happiness, and upon the arrival of the
fairy the transformation takes place. Old Spiteful
becomes Pantaloon, one of her familiars Clown, the
fairy Columbine, and the Prince himself Harlequin, the
final result, of course, being the triumph of the Prince
and Princess who are made happy by the friendly fairy.
Such is the outline of the story, and the opening scene
.displays Old Spiteful (Mr. Clark) seated on a warm
gridiron, which unpleasant position she has been com-
pelled to occupy for 16 years, but release is at hand, and
same unknown agent frees her from her uneasy chair.
We than have the royal nursery and the model nurses—
Sairey Gamp, Betsy Prig, and Mrs. Harris, who greatly
delight the younger members of the audience by the gro-
tesque and ludicrous manner in which they first perform
the duties of their nursery office, and then get comfert
able after—very drunk indeed upon tea. In the visit of
the royal parents to the 'nursery the remarks of their
attendants created a great deal of merriment, after which
we are introduced to little fairies, middle-sized fairies,
and large fairies, who, under the Samphire cliffs of fairy
land, are celebrating the joyous event of the birth of the
princess. The banquetting-hall of silver columns is a
striking piece of scenery, and here the spiteful fairy
makes her appearance and utters her weird prophecy.
We are then carried on in gradual stages to the awaken-
ing of the princess, and are introduced to the golden
groves of the seven fairies, and amaranthine arcades,
which constitute the transformation scene. Then begins
the comic business, the whole piece terminating with a
view of a baronial hall, with Christmas ai celebrated in
the olden times. It is rarely that on the first represen-
tation of the pantomime everything works well, and
those little delays, which appear almost inevitable, un-
doubtedly occurred on Saturday. In the preparation
of one scene—the golden groves—so great was the delay
that the audience displayed unmistakeable signs of im
patience, but they were quickly appeased by the com-
pletion of the tableaux, a magnificent spectacle, which
reminded one of the gorgeous magnificence of the Lyceum
under the management of the late Madame Vestrie. It
is but justice to say that the scenery, which is painted
by Mr. Calcott, is very effective, and in the scene of the
Golden Groves the artist received the well-merited
tribute of a call. As regards the harlequinade, the
tricks are neither very novel nor very numerous, but
the dances are exceedingly well arranged, and the parts
of Harlequin, Columbine, Pantaloon, and Clown
are most effectively filled by Mr. A. Leclercq, Miss
Fanny Wright, Mr. Mackay, and Mr. Charles Leclercq.
We must not omit to add that, among he other advan-
tages of the Christmas entertainments at this theatre
there is this great one, they are brought to a conclusion
at a seasonable hour.

The title of the piece de resistance for the Christmas
holidays nt this elegant little theatre in Oxforl.,treet, is
" Harlequin and the White Cat ; or the Princess Blanche•
Sower and her Fairy Godmothers"—and, for beauty of
scenery, taste and splendour of costume, and general
effectiveness, it must maintain a foremost rank amongst
the entertainments of the season. In the opening' we
have the infant Princess at the court of her father,
King Simple Simon, monarch of the Verdant Islands,
and is accompanied by the well-remembered incident of
the spiteful Dragonetta, in revenge for not being
invited threatening vengeance on the babe. How this
action goes on to execution by the transformation
of her and her six attendants into white cats, and
how the king is changed into a rat, i 3 pleasantly
demonstrated by the skill of the mechanist. Tne
White Cat has sat in the lapse of sixteen years, when
we meet with one Downinthsmoutb, King of the Oh !
Oh I Islands, who proposes to his three sons that it
one of them will bring him the largest pearl in the
world, and show him the figure of a lovely young prin-
cess of sixteen, of whom no mortal has had a peep, he
will abdicate his throne in favour of the fortunate finder.
The conditions are fulfilled by the pearl being given by
King Salmon, who is caught with a hook, and who re-
deems his life by the early pearl offered for and the
Princess being disenchanted of her feline form according
to the original story. In the transformation scene the
acme of elaborate splendour is reached, in the pro-
duction of "the Fairy Christmas Tree," which
became gradually expanded, and became dazzling by the
glistening ornaments upon it, and the glittering of the
gorgeously-dressed ladies amongst its branches. This
scene, as a work of art and as a graceful design erace-
fully wrought out, elicited quite a tumult of applsuse.
Miss Kate Terry, who has rapidly shot up from fairyh od
into a tell, graceful girl, with high pr Anise of being
speedily distinguished as an excellent artist, was The
White Cat, and the fortunate Prince was most amusingly
enacted by Mr. Saker, whose copiousness of broad hu-
mour is invaluable in such extravagant characters. Mr.
Cormack was, as usual, a superlative Harlequin, and
Miss C. Adams a most charming Columbine. Little
Huline, the elfin Clown, achieved many marvellous
gymnastic feats, and Vie veteran Paulo bore with impe-
netrable hide a bountiful amount of buffets and mishaps.
The masterly arrangement of the choregraphic depart-
ment reflects exceeding credit upon Mr. Cormack,
whose value and ability as a maitre de ballet are specially
evinced in the Fairy Dance in the first scene, and in a
dance of hop-pickers, entitled "La Garlandaise," sin-
gularly pretty and picturesque, and which was greatly
applauded. A clog dance by Mr. Huline, and a rattling
performance by Mr. Woodhouse on the new regulation
drum, were received with best favour. Notwithstanding
the customary impatience of the " gods "on a B .xing-
night, the never-fading attractions of the " Corsican
Brothers" commanded their reverential behaviour, and
the incomparable acting of Mr. C. Kean, in a part
which he has made his own as much at he has that of
" Louis the Eleventh" or "Richard the Second," has
lost none of its enthralling powers over the sympathies
of the Princess's audience.

The pantomime at the Lyceum this year is exactly on
the same priuciple as that which made such a sensation
at the same house last Christmas. The introduction is
a complete burlesque, acted by a regular dramatic com-
pany, without the addition of grotesque masks, and so
great a stress is laid on the so-called " transformation
scene" that when this has been exhibited, with all its
glories, the spectators may at once retire, satisfied that
they have virtually seen the whole entertainment,without
waiting for the two or three scenes in Harlequin and Co.
which appear for the mere purpose of allowing the word
" pantomime" to figure in the bills of the day.
" Lelia Rookh" is the title of the piece, which is con-
structed by an ingenious interweaving of the tales told
in verse by Feramora to the princess with the prose ro-
macce of which the prince-poet is himself the hero, the
main part of the action being occupied by the journey of
Lalla Rookh from her father's court to Bucharia, where
the story attains its close. The adversaries who molest
the travellers consist of a band of Ghibers, but they
have a constant protectress in the banished Peri, whs
always makes her appearance when escape by natural
means has become impossible. On the canvas a series
of beautiful Oriental views has been wrought, each of
which outshines the preceding in magnificence, tiil all
are eclipsed by the " Aerial Amphitheatre," in which
the benevolent Peri receives the objects of her
kindly protection. Accustomed as the Loudon public
have been to the most elaborate displays of fairy magni-
ficence from the day when Mr. W. Beverley first asto-
nished the world by the never-to-be-forgotten scene in
the "Island of Jewels," this new combination of me-
chanical ingenuity with gorgeous decorations can scarcely
fail to become the popular theme of gossip during the
whole of the present holidays. To attempt to give a
description of its peculiar (unless indeed we borrowed a
technical account from a theatrical mechanist) would
only show the limit at which black and white must cease
to be efficient when employed to express the visible
creation of an unbridled fancy. We will therefore say,
in all brevity, that an abode apparently of solid gold,
after the conversion of its massive columns into living
women is melted into an etherial paradise of Paris, the
silver brilliancy of which is wonderfully contrasted by
the heavier splendour that has preceded it. The change
is of course effected as gradually as possible, the object
of scenes of this description being not to startle the eye
b y the suddenness of the transformation, but to fascinate
t it by the slow evolution of one beauty out of another.
The burlesque is written by Mr. W. Stough with a

[P RION 4i. STAMPftI) .5 D.]

great deal of smartness, some of the puns being at once
so novel and withal so elaborate that their force can-
not be always apprehended at once, but is no sooner
perceived than an applauding roar testifies the felicity
of the hit. To give the work dramatic importance,
nearly the whole strength of the company is employed
in its representation. Mrs. C. Dillon is the fasci-
natingiLalla Rookh ; Mrs. Alfred Mellon (late Miss
Wool4ar), as Feramorz, is the smartest of Oriental trou-
badours • Mrs. Buckingham White is an "exquisite"
captain Of Ghibers, whose chief assistant is a burlesque
villain, played after the Robsonian fashion by Mr. Toole;
Mr. Barrett, as the father of Lalla Rookh, is it tliorong,h-
paced despot of the old school ; and even more portentous
is Fadladeen, the chamberlain, represented by Mr. S.
Culhaem, with an enormous protuberance of stomach,
and a turban like the " great globe itself." The principal
Peri is acted by Miss Eliza Webb, a yoang lady new to
the London public, and endowed with vocal capabilities
above the common order ; and, as another success ul
beginner, we have Miss Esther Jacobs, who represents
the Princess's waitingni,ld Hinda. The performers in
the trifling harlequinade consist of the veteran Mr. T.
Matthews, Messrs. A. apd R. Stilt, Mr. Ricketts, and
Misses A. Malcolm and Marian Lees, with the addition
of Herr Zeliski and sons as posture-making "sprites."
However, as we have already said, the great matter in
"Lelia Rookh" is the scenery in general and the trans-
formation scene in particular, and therefore to Mr.
Fenton, the painter, is the decided success of the work
mainly to be attributed,
Although anticipating the rest of his brother managers,
Mr. C. Dillon opened his theatre on Christmas-eve, and
proved the expediency of the operation by the -:lmmense
audience that he attracted, he will not make his appear-
ance till to-night (Monday), when he will represent
Richelieu in Sir B. B: Lytton's pity.