The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-27 00:00:00

,1-;~ ,

//..

tent allusions made
o Scotland. Brun-
'e Of the beauties of
usual talent. The
n, CloWn, and Pan-
ty Miss Fairbrother,
Mr. Harvey, Mr. C. Montgomery, and Mr. Blanchard,
aid the piece was-announced for repetition amid uni-
versal applause, from a house crowded fo the ceiling.
We regret that the'latenas of the hour at which the
pantomime concluded, 'nearly one o'clock, prevents us
from entering more minutely into The merits of the
performances at this establishment, but we can assure
our readers that they will be well repaid by a visit
to this popular place of amuFement.

VICTORIA.
. The.e.ntertainments at this theatre last night. m.-ere
.of a varied. character. -Susan
..llopley, or the ricissi-
tncles °fa Servant Girl, iv domestic drama, in. three
acts, occupied the earlier part of the evening, and.was
followed by an amusing burletta, under the title of
..
The Two Clarks. These over, we were introduced to
Abe." Regions of the Moon," and a very curious selec-
tion of the inhabitants of the " orbid maiden," in-
cluding those very odd personages, Neverznisnamia
(Mr. Howard), Sagittarius (Mr. C. `Williams),.
Curlytail (Mr. Wilton), Several Mooncalves; and
of tie fair sex, Miss Luna (Miss Saddler),
MiSs Cytherea (Miss Ring), Miss Cynthea (Miss
W. Ed ax), and Miss Sparkleanu (Miss Brooks). The
Scenery of the Moon, judging froth the.specimens prop
duced, will, we are. certain, engage.. the attention of
our earthly tourists, when the knowledge of balloOn'-
ing-becomes more perfect, if they are not deterred by
the "Income-tax," which ,we pereeive_torments the
poor inhabitants of fair Selene. The cause of all the
fantastic tricks that pass before us in this bright
region, is Billy Taylor (Mr. Gardner), who gives the
name to the pantomime, and who is in love with Molly
Fire (Miss Martin). . The- scene - immediately
shifts from "heaven _ to earth," from the inp
terior
..of the moon to ' "Saint Giles," where the
spiritS of Brandy, Whiskey, Rum, and, Gin, are
worked by the potent spell of Jacobus Jarvey (Mr.
Paul), who also turns a roguish eye towards Molly
Fire. During this scene. several songs are sung by
Miss Martin, in a , sweet and agreeable style., The
third part of the opening introduces us to ". the glad
waters of the dark blue sea," and our old Christmas
friends Harlequin and 'Columbine (Mr. Chappino and
Miss Edgar), and Clown and Pantaloon (Mr. Frank-
lin and Mr. Morelli). These parts were very credit-
ably performed, as were . also . the three grotes-
ques, by Mr. Hulene, Mr. .Arnolph, and Mr. Temone.
On this water scene we are floated to an ancient city
on the. borders of the British dominions, where 'a
flizlit tales place, in which the subjects of the Brother
ci, the Sun and Moon are soundly drubbed by the
men of Britain.. A few other scenes succeed, and
the whole winds up with the " abode of the Lunar
Deities." - -The house was crowded to inconvenience,
and -we could wish that there had been less uproar
and more decorum on the part of the audience.

• QUEEN'S.
The Christmas amusements at this popular place of
resort commenced last night, with the success so well
merited by its enterprising and talented manager.
The first on the programme was an original drama,
entitled The Page of Naples, but----(so far as the pro-
prietor is concerned we are glad to be compelled to
say it)---such was the exuberant and Christmas-like
joyousness of the crowds which thronged the pit and
gallery, the greater part of, the performance was little
else than dumb show. However, the efforts of Mrs.
J. Parry as the Princess Gemma, and of Miss Somers
as Sybllla (the Witch of Vesuvius), were properly
appreciated by a numerous and select circle in the
boxes. This being " boxing night," the grand fea-
ture was the pantomime, and, we must say, that
seldom was it our good fortune to meet with a richer
or more racy combination of those untoward and
outr e events by which the risible organs of our
juvenile friends are acted upon. Its title was (a host
in itself), Polly put the Kettle on. Of course our
readers would not ask us to give the theatrical " undo
derivatur" of this sentence—suffice it to say on this
head, that we have such sounds as " Sunbeam" (Miss
Wrighten), the principal amongst a host of sylphides,
who exhibit their fairy forms with all the concomit-
tants of beautiful scenery, exquisite singing, and
artistic grouping ; • after which come some figures to
work out the "plot," which might well take their
stand at the east end of Guildhall, opposite our wor-
shipful friends Gog and Magog: We think ourselves
justified in winding up, by saying. that few of the
Christmas play-goers can witness this production of
Mr. James' without a hearty laugh, and a feeling of
regret when the curtain-drop terminates the merriment.

CITY OF LONDON THEATRE.
All hail to the Christmas holiday, bringing the
dusty artisan and his family their annual amusements.
The bill of fare adverth.ed by the proprietors of this
minor theatre, was rewarded with an overflowing
house. Boxes, pit, and galleries were crowded to
suffocation, and if we might judge the amount of happi-
ness enjoyed by the loudness of the plaudits, the
audience were satisfied in the highest degree. Paul,
the Brazier, a new drama, ushered in the evening.
This was succeeded by the farce of The Blue Devils,
but the pantomime was called for before the second
piece was half gone through, and the proprietors
were obliged to yield to the lodd and long continued
vociferations of "the gods." Harlequin and the One-
eyed. Blacksmith, is a pantomime of the common
order. It is scarcely possible to
,produce anything
original, where the incidents "must, from the very
natur6.,, of the play, so resemble each other ;
and here we had old tricks revived, and old
jokes perpetrated. -The whole turned upon
the loves of Vulcan and Venus, who, as Harlequin
and Columbine (admirably played by Signor Milano
and Mademoiselle Therese Cushnie), chase Despair,
or Pantaloon • (Mr. Cony), and Discord, or Clown
(Mr. Blanchard), round our world. The dramatis
persona fly from the abode of the Cyclops, in Sicily, to
London, and afterwards to Edinburgh. Characters of
either nnd other countries are introduced, and as
there is no distinct plot throughout, the author only
endeavours to bring them into ridiculous juxta-
position with each other, and in this he is highly suc-
cessful. The proprietors have spared no expense in
scenery or decoration, and the stage machinery was
admirably managed. They have catered with
much tact and industry for the public, and we are
happy to say that they are likely to be well and liberally
rewarded.

MR. WILSON'S SCOTTISH ENTER-
__ TAINMENTS.
Since the enthusiastic reception of Mr. Wilson in
London last season, the anticipation of all eireleshas
been on the alert for his return to the metropolis.
After having sung by special order before Majesty
itself in Scotland ; after having been encored by regal
lips, when a refined Court had been delighted with
itennbororutg that
rivals his melodies, and the rafters of the ancient clan halls
hadvlacsnaceßaigazziion,sriann
witchery—last
ittochtehrey— ;
sweetnessastnight aga of a
this favourite vocalist to the same room where he had
before held " Nights wi' Burns," when he poured out
the bright wine of that poet for his audience, and
caused their countenances to grow rosy with plea-
sure. As the fttll luxuries of Italian song have been
translated during the past season into an intelligible
English version by the skill of Miss Kemble, who has
further enriched the original with elegancies of her
own device, and the unsurpassed splendour of tones
some of which are specially her own ; so Mr. Wilson,
albeit his sphere may be less transcendant, has never-
theless similarly nationalized for us the touching
minstrelsies of northern song, bringing to our ears
from their far blue mountains the martial majesty of
stirring war songs—the melting sweetness of lilt and
love-song—the roundelays, madrigals, and strains—
sung anciently and proudly pipe, and viol. On
one who has done so much for the gratification of
the public, and who has had his career so signally,
honoured, too much praise cannot be bestowed.
Flushed with his successes- at Taymouth, and with: 1
the favours profusely bestowed on him in the provin-
cial towns • he has visited, Mr. Wilson again de- •
lighted many of his old, 'and more of a new
audience, yesterday evening, with his songs, which
are a charm and pleasure to the ear.- ,Gallantly
as ever, he sang the " Laird o' Cockpen," !which
pleased our gracious Queen as well as any in his
store; quaintly, but sweetly, he questioned his " boy
Tammy," where he had been all day wandering, and
who confesSed to a sugared lip and a splendid eye ;
royally he gave out the "Reel o"rullochgorum ;"
and trilled us merrily -as a marriage .bell, " Woo'd and
married and a'."
The Music-hall at Store-street was, as usual, full,
which is the best proof of this species of attraction,,
especially upon a night when large draughts at the
theatres, and dinner-parties and drawing-rooms in
general, of course drew away multitudes yesterday
evening. The programme for the ensuing Monday
sets out the adventures of Prince Charles, with the
Jacobite songs of the period. " Charlie is my A
darling," is a gem of itself, and " Flora M'Donald s
Lament" is one of plaintive and unsurpassable beauty.
Twelve other favourites also add their number -to .#
the list.

Susercious.—We have just been informed, upon
authority on which we can place the most implicit
reliance, that there are at the present moment being
built at Blackwall five large steam frigates for the
Russian Government, which are intended to be used
in the Black Sea, for the prosecution of the war
against the, Circassians. One of these steam frigates
is just completed. Is the British Goveiiiment aware
of this most important fact ? We repeat, that we
place implicit confidence in the truth of the above

statement, which we hasten, as in duty bound, to lv
before th.e public. Comment at present wauld be su-
perfluou s. John Bull.