The Sun.
London, England, 1829-04-28 00:00:00

GRAND MASQUERADE.

Last night a splendid Masquerade was given at
the` Opera-house. A platform being thrown over
therpit on a level with the stage, and this spacious
area being rendered beautiful and magnificent by all
that taste and art could devise, or liberality accom-
We are always glad when the Opera-house,
instead of the Argyll-rooms, is made the scene of
these amusements : the bold and superb sweep of
the bozo' brilliantly illuminated, as seen from the
stage, the vista of the stage itself, with its scenery,
foliage, and variegated lamps, form a coup d'cril of
surprising, grendeur, surpassing any thing of the
sort in Europe. And then the fine space for the
indolent lounge--the antic trick and merry gam-
bel—the softened notes of the numerous instru-
ments, mellowed by distance—the convenience of
the ante-rooms for different shows, and of the
spacious Concert-room for the supper—render this
house infinitely superior to any other for the
purpose of a Masquerade. Last night the cha-
racters were numerous and well supported:—
We had Clowns with wit and humour, both witty
and clownish; Harlequins with tricks and leaps, as
diversified shai. Jackets. We had Gorgon!,
(gres, •od ers, contrasted with French
bancing-atasters, Italian Singers, Quacks, Mourne-
banks,, Jugglers, Buffoons, and Gentlemen of all
descriptions—here was a Wild Man of the Woods
walking wlth a Dandizette, and there a love-lore
impb!ainging her "lowly suit and plaintive ditty ;"
there was a laufrittig Romeo, and, by his side, a
dancing Kunlet Te was a Rosalind, to whom a
triasqueteue was as natural as fire is to the Sala-
mander. We saw an Ophelia—Heaven forbid we
should ever see her again! There were feminine
Cupids of eighteen, lovely, tremulous, and sensi-
tive; and there was a Cupid that made us think
of the Antediluvians—one hundred and eighty years
-old at least (we speak conscientiously). There
Were holy Friars, with most unholy aspects; and
Nuns who had never taken the veil (we wish
to heaven some of them had). We saw crews of
Sailors, who had never been aloft, except in their
uPper stories—Knights most urbane, but in refulgent
and belliferous armour—fair-faced unshorn Officers
of the Guards, and Dragoons whose better part of
valour was discretion. But talk not to us of a
ifiasquerade bd.(); e supper ; it is, as Lord Byron
says, like an English sun in murky maudling sorrow
•--by. comparison. Wait till the ruby Claret and
brilliant Champagne have given the heart its joyous-
ness, and the mind its poetry. By the by, we are
no censors nor spies, but Mr. Sergeant "got nothing
by his motion" but a fee simple. We can tell Lord
H. that he shines more on the barouche-bux than
in a box at the Masquerade ; and a certain weighty
karquis is so accustomed to Crockford's, that he
thinks nothing of making ladies look rouge, and his
Male friend look noir. Our mouths are hermetically
sealed, and we wish it had been the same with a
Scotch Countess, whose broad Gaelic and large di-
mensions
cunningly betrayed her, in spite of her incog. so
'devised. The chief novelty was a set of
sailors on horseback, who sustained an excellent
mock fight, and kept up good mock races.