The Sun.
London, England, 1842-02-03 00:00:00

VISIT OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA
TO COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE.

His Majesty the King of Prussia honoured
Covent-garden Theatre with his presence last
evening, and the performances were by his Ma-
jesty's comMand. The time of opening the doors
was postponed to seven o'clock, long before which
hour they were besieged by an immense crowd,
anxious to gain admittance; and within ten mi-
nutes after they were opened, the theatre was
crammed in every part open to the-public. The
performance commenced at eight o'clock with
the pantomime; and shortly after its conclu-
sion, at a little after ten o'clock, the King
of Prussia entered her Majesty's private box.
The audience rose to greet him; he was received
with waving of hats and handkerchiefs, and loud
cheers from every part of the house. His Ma-
jesty seemed highly gratified by his reception,
and came forward to the front of the box, and
repeatedly bowed his acknowledgments. When
the cheering had somewhat subsided, a voice
from the pit called for one cheer more, and a
hearty cheer was the response, which his Ma-
jesty again acknowledged by bowing. The cur-
tain then drew up, and discovered the whole of
the Company assembled on the stage. The baud
struck up the Prussian national air, Der Landes
Vater," and the Company sang the following
English words, adapted to the air. The solo
parts being sustained by Miss Rainforth, Madame
Vestris, and Mr. W. Harrison :
Welcome, Royal Guest of' England !
Welcome, from our hearts we sing !
Thine own land its Father names thee—
Ours, with pride, its Friend proclaims thee—
God guard Prussia and her noble King I
Honour to the flag so bravely
Raised with ours the world to save !
On through that last struggle glorious.
Side by side they flew victorious—
God grant together they may ever wave !
Welcome, Royal Guest of England.
Welcome, from our hearts we sing !
May the sacred friendship plighted
At the Font, be never blighted!—
Long live Britain's Queen, and Prussia's King!
Among the decorations of the scene, the stan-
dard of Prussia, with its black eagle, was very
conspicuous. His Majesty was evidently highli,
delighted with the tasteful compliment thus paid
to himself and his country. At the conclusion ot
the Prussian National air, there were loud calls
for " God Save the Queen," and our own
tional air then was accordingly sung, the solo
parts being sustained by Miss Rainforth, Madame
Vestris, and Mr. W. Harrison. While the con-
cluding stanza was being sung, Miss Adelaide
Kemble came to the front of the stage, and was
most cordially received by Madame Vestris, who
handed to her the additional verse " God' save
the Prince," which was sung by Miss Adelaidet
Kemble, as she alone can sing it. His Majesty
applauded the performance of the National An 4
them with the greatest enthusiasm. Among
those assembled on the stage, we were glad, to
observe Mr. Charles Kemble, looking hale,
hearty, and in good spirits. We fancied
we observed an expression of honest pride.
upon his features as lie contemplated his
accomplished and gifted daughter, and lwe
althost envied him his feelings. Some little time
had elapsed between the conclusion of the pan-
tomime and the commencement of the other
performances, but the audience was kept in ex-
cellent humour by the showers of papers, which
ever and anon fell into the pit, and the scramble
for which gave rise to a great deal of- fun.
These papers contained the English words of the
Prussian National Air, and which we have
given above. Immediately on the conclu-
sion of the National Anthem, the play of
of The Merry Wives of Windsor commenced.
The King of Prussia was very attentive to the
performance and frequently referred to the book
which he held in his hand. He seemed thoroughly
to enter into the spirit of the play, laughed
heartily at the witticisms and escapades of "sweet
Jack Falstaff," and was by means sparing of
his applause. His Majesty seemed completely
to appreciate the beautiful duet, " I know a
bank," which was exquisitely sung by Madame
Vestris and Miss Rainforth, in the encoring of
which his Majesty led the way. We never heard
Madame Vestris 's rich contralto notes in higher
perfection, and are glad that she exhibited no
traces of the severe illness from which she has
of late been suffering. At the commencement
of the fourth act his Majesty and Suite quietly
left the house. It was evidently his desire to
quit the house unnoticed and unobserved, and
the audience had the tact to perceive,and the
good sense to gratify, his Majesty's wishes.

VISIT OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA
TO THE THAMES TUNNEL.

Yesterday morning, at a quarter ,to nine
o'clock, the King of Prussia, attend.-ed
Von Humboldt, Baron Muller., Baron
Captain Meynell,lord Hardwicke,
and of his Majesty's
Aides-de-Camp, ar.
fbr the
,pur Tived at the Thames Tunnel,
extran: 147,,5e of inspecting the works of this
iinary undertaking. His Majesty and
.uite were received by Mr. Benjamin Hawes,
the Chairman, several of the Directors and ori-
ginal proprietors • by Sir I. K. Brunel, the
engineer; by Mr. Page, the acting engineer;
and the secretary, Mr. Charlier. Sir J. Rennie
was also present. Although the hour was early
at which his Majesty arrived, there were a
number of visitors to welcome him to the Tunnel.
His Majesty came to the Tunnel-wharf in the
Bachelor steam-boat, Lord Hardwicke acting as
cockswain. His Majesty was conducted through
the Tunnel by Sir I. Brunel. On arriving at the
bottom of the staircase, where a full view of the
Tunnel is obtained, the first impression excited
on the part of the King was surprise. " Que
c'est beau .the King exclaimed, and in ad-
vancing into the work he clasped the hand of the
engineer several times, and after a short pause
his Majesty exclaimed, addressing the engineer,
"It surpasses all I have heard of it before. I
thought the accounis.fiad been exaggerated, but,
now that I see it, the statements respecting it are
short of the reality. How much water is there
above us, Sir Isambert ?" The engineer replied
to 36 feet at highest tides.
His Majesty, on reaching the shield on the
Middlesex side, did not appear to understand the
mode in which the work had been carried on.
Sir Isambert explained the modus operandi, and
the King expressed his astonishment at the de-
tails. The depth of the shaft, 76 feet, was
another circumstance that caused great astonish-
ment. On reaching the top of the shaft, on the
Middlesex side, his Majesty, seeing the steamer
in which he had arrived, on the other side of the
river, expressed a desire to have it summoned
over, but Baron Humboldt asked him to return
through the Tunnel in order to view the
drawings of the works in the engineer's office.
It may here not be considered irrelevant to re-
mark that in 1827 the Baron descended in the
diving-bell to inspect the displacement made in
the bed of the river after one of the irruptions.
On arriving at the Wapping shore the miners,
and others employed upon the works, cheered
his Majesty most heartily, and their voices were
raised much higher when Mr. Charlier an-
nounced, by command of the King, that he
placed 50/. at their disposal. His Majesty and
his suite then etamined the drawings of the
works, with which he expressed himself
highly gratified. His Majesty took his de-
parture amidst the acclamations of the
workmen, the bells of Rotherhithe church ring-
ing a merry peal. The Prussian flag was hoisted
over the shaft at Rotherhithe. The shield,
having performed its work, is now being dis-
mantled. His Majesty signed his name in the
visitors' book in the tunnel thus :—" Fredk.
William the Fourth, King of Prussia." Baron
Humboldt also placed his name as an addition
to many thousand distinguished visitors. Lady
Brunel was introduced to the (King of Prussia.
His Majesty graciously remarked—"Js suis
enchante, Madame, d'avoir le plaisir de vous
voir et de vous feliciter."

EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW RAILWAY.--
The Half-yearly Meeting of the Railway Company, at
which the question of Sunday travelling will be brought
under consideration, takes place on Feb. 22, and, not-
withstanding the extraordinary efforts making by the
opponents of all railway travelling on the first day of
the week, there is, we believe, every prospect that they
will be defeated by a large majority. Sir Andrew Agnew,
and we know not how many others, have purchased shares
expressly for the purpose of ,concussing the bona
fide proprietors of the undertaking into an adoption of
their views. Threats of withholding traffic from the
railway have been made to some extent, and, in short, no
stone have been left unturned, by the reckless ingenuity
of a body of individuals who, not content with support-
ing, by fair means, their own opinions, seem resolved
that they shall, if possible, be thrust forcibly down the
throats of their neighbours. All, however, we are
assured, will prove unsuccessful, as the railway pro-
prietors are resolved to abide by their own judgment, j
instead of attending to the dictation of individuals
who have exhibited so melancholy a lack of Chris*:ian
charity throughout the agitation that has beets carried
on.—Glasgow Paper
Mr. Bucke, the well-known auti:sor of several
works, had a serious accident on MOD ay. He has been
long labouring under paralysis) gut it had yielded in
some degree to judicious medie,-41 treatment. On Friday,
coining out of a gentleman's 'nous° in Berners-street, he
fell down upon the steps and injured himself very mate-
rially. He was taken into his friend's house, whence he
was conveyed to his residence, Pulteney-terrace, Pen-
tonville, where be was visited by a second attack, from
Which it is feared he maT nyi mover.