The Press. — London, England, 1853-08-20 00:00:00

Burnet, where the witty commentator, finding the recurrent phrase, " free of those vices," instead of free from them, notes—" He (Burnet) means as a person is free of a cormation !" A writer like Mr. Burton who makes such mistakes need not go out of his way in three different places to tell us of Lord Dundee's ignorance of grammar and rhetoric. In the twenty-first chapter Mr. Burton puts forth his power to assail the Highlanders, and denude their history of aught that is brilliant or romantic. It is evidently penned in the spirit of an attack ; but we never read so long a dissertation with so few notes or references to authenticate the hardy assertions in the text.. We do not care much for the opinions of one who, writing of the Grants and Ca inerons, calls them " capricious savoyee," uud calls the plaid " the many-coloured blanket of the mountain Ravage." He even recurs to the word " blanket" with special gratification ; and it is most amusing to observe his evident pleasure as he attempts the part of an histori cal iconoclast, and flings his ponderous but not formidable sentences at the objects of national enthusiasm. Mr. Burton requires to be reminded that a writer is not neces sarily profound or original because he wants pathos, sympathy, or vivid genius. So deter mined and bigoted an utilitarian must be warned that " utility" itself requires that a historian should exhibit the art of portraying the inner life of a people, and making us iteputinted with their springs of action by a picturesque analysis ; for history written otherwise can seldom meet, with readers, never with admirers ; and the spiritless want of human sympathy is almost invariably pu nished by a toil without fruit, and the retribu t ion of—oblivion. A Charge at the Second Visitation of Thomas Arch bishop of York. John W. Parker and Son. _ . Tuts charge has been printed at the request of the clergy of the archdiocese of York, and will he read with pleasure by those who are interested in the questions appertaining to "Convocation." Its style is smoothly elegant, and displays the peculiar merits of chastened composition. We observe that Arch bishop Musgrave is not very friendly to the intro duction of Scripture readers into clerical offices. lie says " There is now less occasion to dispense with the usual p►e-regnisites of a professional education, when the means of obtaining it at a cheaper rate, told after a shorter term of preparation, have been se► multiplied in ditlerent parts of the kingdom. By adhering to this rule, save in some exceptional and remarkable cases which might possibly went., 1 shall consider that 1 shrill best discharge the duty of my office in this respect, and best uphold the character of the ministry, and the honour and usefulness of our various academies% establishments." So that due provision be made for the " exceptional cases " here referred to, we think that the general opinion of friends to the Church coincides with the sentiments of Archbishop Musgrave. A Reply to Lord Stanley's Pamphlet on Church Rates. By the Rev. Merewether. M.A. London : Rivington. AN earnest work, and worthy all consideration; evincing the animus of a gentleman and the caution of a scholar; and in the latter respect careful of overstating its conclusions. City Insprarensents and Mr. Charles Pearson. Lon. don : Effingham Wilson. 'l'in writer discourses very sensibly upon the too notorious fact that London streets are become lintel' too narrow for London traffic. We want elbow room sadly. The ordinary remedy, that of widening the streets, he adds, is enormously expensive, and affords but a transient amelioration after all. Wider streets, by facilitating traffic, increase it, and their natural tendency, therefore, is to make themselves again too narrow in a few years. Seeking for a complete and permanent cure, he then advocates with much cogency Mr. Pearson's scheme of metropolitan rail roads with city termini, by which all the inhabitants, down to the humblest, might live out of town, and London proper be reserved solely for a place of bu siness, where all who had business to transact might come and go as easily as the I►ank-clerks enter or leave the scene of their labour. Rosee's Cab Fare London : Samuel Rowe. A tismir. little manual, offering some much-wanted information, arranged upon a sensible plan. Twenty - three "centres" are taken, Mantling all the railway stations, and comprising the chief points of depar- THE PRESS. titre in the metropolis ; and the cab charge from each of these to any one out of nearly 5(10 sites scattered over and round the expanse of London is tabulated in a form available for the readiest, or unreadiest, com prehension. We must remark, however, that a title page should keep its promises, not only to the ear, but the hope ; and that this is not accom plished when, to complete the "twenty-five thou sand fares " specified by the compiler, we are obliged to make every entry do double ditty. Thus, the sixpence set down as the charge for the length of the Strand must be reckoned as two "fares," V 7. . from Temple-bar to Charing-cross, and from Charing-cross to Temple-bar. G. Ilnutleklize. 11. Atltuus. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. Clan Alban. Tdra..lotandlnu.. Atkinvis Parlianu•Ntary Handbook. Church of Scotland Illaya:thee. Four Partx. Arthur ITall, Virtue, and Co. T. latehard. Duff and I Ithhoon. Addison and Miller. Cau of the Rem Pierce t 'tawny. I'll tare the, row. Ifnabul by F. Cleaver. Oh ! telt me rot that other lips. 11,1%154. LYCEUM THEATRE. ON Wednesday evening this theatre, at present closed for its ordinary season, was opened for the first of a series of three operatic performances under the direction of Mr. Allcroft. Mr. and Mrs. Sims Reeves were announced as the principal attraction, supported by Mr. Weiss, Mr. Corti, Mr. Manvers, and Miss Julia I I arland. The performance consisted of Anber's ever fresh and sparkling Era Diavolo, followed by The Refigar's Opera. Mr. Sims Reeves acted the famous brigand with great dash and spirit, and sang with energy, though his voice appeared somewhat fatigued. His serenade, "Fair Agnes," in the se cond act, met with a rapturous encore. But we would suggest to him that the song is intended as a signal to the robber's comrades without, and should, therefore, be sung as from the window, and not softly warbled over the footlights. We must also enter our protest against his costume, which might be admissible as a " costume de fantaisie" of a French horserider; but orange-coloured tight panta loons, Hessian boots with gold tassels, and a black velvet coat laced and frogged with gold, we think were rarely, if ever, worn by Italian gentlemen in the days of Fra I)iavolo. Mr. Weiss's fine voice told with great effect in the concerted music ; but his performance of the foppish English nobleman was a piece of sheer loutish bufii)onery ; and his crimson frock-coat and green velvet jelly-bag cap were won drous to behold. Mr. Corsi deserves a word of praise for his Reppo, which was grotesque and humorous, without the gross exaggeration and caricature in which the actors of this part are but too apt to indulge. Mrs. Sims Reeves sang her music v%ith great correctness and finish, but her acting wanted animation and feeling. Mr. George Tedder has a good person and a very agreeable voice, but be appears to be quite new to the stage, and has much to learn and some little to unlearn before he can undertake - such a part as Mac heath with justiee either to himself or his audience. We were pleased to observe a great improvement in Miss Atha Harland : her intonation is much more correct, though she has yet to conquer a painful ten dency to singing too sharp. The band acquitted themselves well, though the time of the principal pieces of Fr►c Diana() appea►ed to us to be taken much too slow, and The Beggar's Opera was per formed with only about half a dozen instruments, the rest of the orchestra, for some unexplained reason, never reappearing from the black vault under the stage into which they plunged at the end of the fi►`t piece. The house was crowded. ',tango girt, leittratert, 6 1. Tim Tomn or NAPOLEON.—This monument—one of the finest of modern times—having been thrown open to the public on the 15th inst., the following de. seription, derived from official sources, may be of ge neral interest. As it had been laid down that the tomb should be placed " under the dome of the In valides," the architect, M. Visconti, had to battle against a number of difficulties. The Eglise des lnvalides has two principal entrances nearly opposite eanh other, and the first difficulty arose, towards which of the two the front of the monument. of Na poleon should he turned. Besides, as the altar is the principal object of a Catholic church, any monu ment of adequate size would have abstracted the chief attraction of the church. Thus nothing re mained but to build a crypt in harmony with the dome, that chtf-d'trurre of the great. Mansard. In a mystical, religious, and superstitious (prestigieux) point of view, the crypt offered all the advantages possible to he achieved. Still, it was also required that from the very entering of the church the pre sence of such a monument should be perceived. M. SATURDAY, Visconti achieved the first desideratum by placing round the aperture of the crypt a rich balustrade of white marble, being like a crown belonging to the abode of the dead. The descent to the crypt is by a door placed behind the great altar of the dome, and by a marble staircase we arrive at the main door leading to the crypt, which we believe to be the main architectural attraction of the whole monument, as anything more austere and antique cannot well be imagined. At the two sides of the bronze door stand two colossal statues of the same material, of a most exquisite workmanship, representing the civil and military power, holding in their hands a cushion on which the imperial crown and the globe are placed. After we have passed the door we find ourselves wider an immense vault formed by the colossal steps of the upper altar. All around is gloom. The ar chitect, inspired by an idea both religious and poetic, wished to lead the mind towards a respectful 74- eueillentent, and predispose the visitor for the austere lesson enouneed by the interior—" the splendour of external things drowned in the abyss of annihila tion." The crypt is of a circular form. The depth below the level of the church is six metres, the diameter twenty-three metres. It is surrounded by twelve pilasters in white Carara marble of one single block, firming each a colossal figure, holding in their hands a symbol of the victories and deeds of the late Emperor. They are the last works of Pradier, which have added so much to his renown as one of the first sculptors of the age. The sarcophagus is of a red granite ?ono antic() from Finland, a substance harder and of a liner grain than any known to the ancients. For cutting it a steam engine was required, as manual labour was inadequate to the task. Around the sarcophagus extends a rich pavement, made of mosaic, in the shape of an immense laurel wreath, of the antique Roman pattern. Rays spread from this laurel crown, extending all round the monument. The open portion of the crypt is hung with twelve bronze lamps, made after terracotta models from Pompeii, and which will not be lighted except on most solemn occasions. The walls of this circular portico are adorned by ten great basso-relievos in white marble, designed by M. Simont, and executed by Messrs. Chambord, Ottin, Petit, Sc. They re present the following subjects, allegorically treated : The Pacification of the Civil Dissensions ; The Con eordat ; the Codex Napoleon ; Encouragements Afforded to Industry, &c. The row of these basso relievos is twice interrupted, first by the door of the vestibule, and by that of the subterraneous chamber — a sort of sanctuary built of black marble, of the most stern and religious style and character, where will be deposited some of the most important mementos of the late Emperor—the sword he wore at Austerlitz, the insignia he wore on festival occasions, sixty stands of colours won at the chief battles of Napo leon, kc. The latter will be hung on the walls. In the rear will be placed a great statue of the Emperor, cut out in the quarry itself by M. Simont. The Court Vauban, which precedes the principal entrance to the Eglise des Invalides, and forms, as it were, its vestibule, will be arranged in a way worthy the great monument to which it leads. M. Visconti proposes to adorn it with the statues of the twelve marshals created by Napoleon ; the outer to be occupied by an equestrian statue of himself, as he appeared on one of his great field days. Thus, the great and leading idea of M. Visconti may be recapitulated in these few words :—" Au dehori, l'homme—an dedans, l'apotheose!" M mt. STotrz, the ex-cantatrice of the (rand Opera at Paris, has returned from Brazil and Flo rence. She will shortly return to Florence, to spend the autumn before going to Turin, where she is engaged for three seasons. THE FRENCH OPERA AT THE HAGUE, which seemed condemned to irremediable ruin since it ceased to be the property of the King's civil list, will decidedly reopen on Sept. 2, with a considerable money contribution from the town. A new theatre 14 Dutch drama has been opened at Rotterdam. BarssEts is at the present moment inundated with portraits of the young Duke and Duchess of Bra bant, under every form of busts, medals, medallions, portraits, and even under the moneyed form of pieces of 5 francs and 10 centimes, fabricated at the Mint, to the amount of 100,000 francs, by order of the Belgian Oovernment, and circulating at once as money and as commemoration medal. Three et thev.eomductions have a real artistic value—the bast in marble of the archduchess by Simonis. the author of the equestrian statue of " Godfrey of Bouillon ; the portrait au pied by De Keyzer, incontestably the best Belgian painter, who has here added a masterpiece to his former productions ; and the lithi!graphed portrait by Schubert, of which several copies were sent to Claremont, at the request of Queen Amehe. A STATUE 640 be erected at Leyden to Laurens Janszoon Koster, whom the Dutch designate as the genuine inventor of the art of printing. THE FRENCH I.IISTORIAN, MIS HELET, has taken up his residence at Nantes, where he proposes to ter minate his history of the French Revolutlon.