7 JANUARY 1854, Page 12

4.1r Qrntrtg.

When the,question "What are the Pantomimes i" has been duly

projmsed and answered, the next question wilfBe,‘,‘•,What are they doing at the Lyceum ?" Nay, in many cases thiesMcond question will be put first; for although Pantaloon and Clown still-Command a large army of . true believers inciting the juvenile portion of thecommunity,. there is among older folk a strong disposition to expect fanciful creation rather from the pencil' of 'Beverley than from the wand of Harlequin.

Aceordiog to long-established Precedent, the last scene of the Lyceum spectacle is the great sight of the whole.• The Pantomime theatres can. put up any glittering canvass they please at the end of Harlequin's wan- derings; satisfied that people are thinking more about the cloaks atid greatcoate than about the doing's beyond the lamps. But at the Lyceum, the splendour which concludes the feerie is meant for deliberate admira- tion, and on this account the spectacle never terminates the business of the evening. People may feast on Beverley's productions to their heart's content, and have ample leisure to think about cloaks and coats after- wards. In the raonelnili --piene of peefibleclklibBietebti into a new'Prithl of bile . Of which bythoir 'ski* dlipnien o 'rg.TOUSraeris haVOL

nish ferttrih.R4.y Chtistress-frlorn the date of the'il each suebesste,fgle mg a new varintiOn Of the sa,, .

he is on then ocf.asion less gorgeous, less obvie anical,, bet

more fairy p Agrtal,than m•any of his formerworka,,, bp egesofthe spectators aretutt putiout-byglittering splendour, but repose peacefully on a scene which from its light and unterrestrial ebaratter can be compareclal one to the devieesofsome Berman artist of decorated niargins.; Fitirieirmeit away into undefined, tertirinatient, as the figures in araliesq, scrolls vita ish into flowers and itiaieerifsihile the principal figure of ell, bysoine admirable con- trivance, Stint& oreet, With her foot on the hands Of two delicate cenirades : so perfectly,irittig Iippeatance of lightness maintained, that the uneasy notion Of oreessive.weight is never obtruded,on the mind. The first act terminates with a ballet; in which Ms ,Pcihital0Vright distinguishes.- herself greatly. Indeed, the LyCiain • pieces are bld,acesitelhig to one regular .plen.,, Itis ;indispensable ;het, the ABA Act:abinuld, Mind cp within splendid scene,ancl rtballet; it is indispensable that the.splendeur of.the laat scene ahnuld eieeerl that of the other;. and it is likewise indispensable that one of the:eliaraetera should be played 'by Madanie.Vestris. .Once, if we resellect aright, an attempt 'we's made to do, without this last re- quisite; brit a Lyceum Gliristmit without -Madame Vestris proved a dull affair. The fairy teeth?, with all its brilliancy, was not enough-- without the presiditig tetiria. .Considercps a dramatic entertainment, the piece which is thus elabo- rately decerrated, and which is called Once upon a tithe there were two Kings, is pot of the4inpst bilariOus kind. . The jokes are sparingly administered, se that the nmAd ia never diverted by a strong sense of the ludicrous from a -contemplation of the beautiful.