The Press. — London, England, 1854-03-18 00:00:00

MARCH 18, 1854. was, in his own day, thought to be an elegant writer, but in this very preface to Addison we meet with s3ntences of which the final member is finished as in the following one, recording the disappointment with Addison's "Travels in Italy" : How ware they disappointed when, instead of such par. ticulars, they were presented only with a journal of poetical travels, with remarks on the present picture of the country, o )mpared with the landscapes drawn by classic authors, a id others the like uncoaceming parts of knowledge ! One sentence in this preface we particularly com mend to the notice of the present Premier. Re ferring to Lord Somers, Hurd writes, " He was one " of that kind of patriots who think it no waste of " the public treasure to purchase politeness to their " country." Lord Aberdeen seems to think that good manners in a minister of state ought to be as obso lete as the diction of Bishop Hurd. Popery, and not " politeness," is what his lordship thinks should be " purchased to the country." The Heroines of History. By Mrs. Octavius Freire Owen. London : Routledge and Co. THIS book of more than 400 pages, and illustrated by Gilbert, contains biographies of twenty-four heroines. Four—Jael, Judith, Salamona, and Marianne—belong to the Jewish era; six to the classic ; and the remainder, beginning with Eleanor of Castile and ending with Marie Antoinette, to the modern era. As the works from which Mrs. Owen has culled her materials are bulky and expensive, Gibbon, Josephus, and Miss Strickland's " Lives ol the Queens of England " being amongst them, a good compilation of this nature would be interesting and useful. Mrs. Owen writes with taste and feeling, and in the earlier periods adheres to historic truth, or at least follows the best authorities, but when she comes to the sixteenth century opinions will vary as to her fidelity : the judgment of the biograper is, we think, sometimes perverted by a woman's heart. Thus the fair face and the grey eyes of the Queen of Scots, with the scaffold at Fotheringhay, hide from Mrs. Owen's view" the heart as hard as diamond" of which Mary boasted in her damning letter to Both well which has lately come to light. But to lean to mercy's side is in a lady graceful if erroneous. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. By Acton Bell. (Parlour Library.) London: Hodgson. THE authoress of "Jane Eyre," in a charming bio graphical sketch, has recorded the brief lives of her two sisters, who were scarcely less gifted than herself. The freshness and vivacity of " Wildfell Hall," and its sharp distinct individuality of style, amply com pensate for its want of artistic finish, and qualify it for a place in this excellent series of reprints. The Carafas of Maddaloni : Naples under Spanish Dominion. Translated from the German of Alfred de Reumont. London : Bohn. -- ----- THIS work, which professes to trace a picture of Na ples under the dominion of Spain in connection with the fortunes of the Carafas, is the production of a gentleman who fled from Rome to Gaeta in 1848, and thence, in the train of Pope Pius the Ninth, to Naples. Gratitude for the hospitable reception be received induced him, he tells us, to employ his lei sure in illustrating that portion of Neapolitan history which Italians have dwelt upon with reluctance, and which includes the noted outbreak under Masaniello. The work is learned and interesting, though deficient in descriptive vigour, and its translation has been ap propriately undertaken for Mr. Bohn's series. Introductory Lessons on the British Constitution. London : J. W. Parker and Son. A SERIES of six lessons, the first conveying elemen tary instruction on the nature of regal government generally, the other five being devoted to the British constitution. These lessons, which originally ap peared in the True Briton, will be useful to the young or the self-taught. The Stratford Shakspere. By Charles Knight. London : Hodgson. Tnts is the first complete volume of this cheap edition, which we have already noticed. Along with the poet's biography are the two plays of The Tempest and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. It deserves fully the commendation we have already bestowed on it. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. Boors. Views of Canada and the Colonists. EdinJ. B. burgh Blacks. The Outlines of Vikfujfilled Prophecy. Rev. T. R. Birks. Seeleys. Saunders and Otley. Chalmers' Poems. PAMPHLETS. Another Note on the Turkish Question. Sannders and Otley. THE PRESS. MPINIMPI Lessons on the British Constitution. J. W. Parker and Son. An Open College Rest for AU. W. Thompson, MA. Ridgway. Observations on the Bill for Abolishing the Removal of the Boor. IL l'ashley. Lungunut and Co. The Cross and the Age. Seeleys. The Dead Sea and its Explorers. Freeman. Preface to the Second Edition of the Russo. Turkish Cam paigns of l&28.28. Colonel Chesney. The Law of Settlement. A Letter to the Right Hon. N. T. Baines. Ridgway. _ . The Beard: Why do me cut it off ) By David. Bosworth. calf grama. HAYM ARKET THEATRE. As a literary work there is much to be said for the Duchess Eleanor. Its author, Mr Chorley, has evi dently saturated his memory with the productions of the older dramatists, and has accomplished a very respectable imitation of their most approved models. Like them he writes in blank verse. He affects the quaintness of style which in their day was no affec tation, and deals with deeply-traced characters and emotions which, if not true to nature, are true to the types set by his chosen exemplars. He resembles them also in nerve and vigour of diction, in a rich profusion of imagery, in the wealth of incident, and in the terrible earnestness with which, having selected a victim or evoked a passion, he urges them onward to the appointed consummation. But to produce the drama as an acting play, as it was pro duced on Monday night at the Haymarket, was a complete mistake. There is no character in it likely to interest an audience—there are few passages that can attract them, and fewer still that can please. All the accessories of scenery, all the care and genius of the performers, and Miss Cushman dis played both, were utterly thrown away. " Powerful" scenes there might be in plenty, but it was power in its most harsh and ungraceful form. More than one of the incidents on the first performance was abso lutely repulsive. In fact, it would puzzle us to con trive how to spend four hours more disagreeably than in witnessing the five acts of the Duchess Eleanour as played on Monday evening. The second represer cation on Wednesday exhibited some im provements, several scenes being altered and abbreviated, and the play softened in every respect; but it would not do. There was little active show of disapproval on the part of the audience, but there were negative symptoms which the management in terpreted wisely and rightly, and The Stranger was announced, when the curtain fell, for Miss Cushman's next appearance yesterday evening. This verdict exonerates us from the necessity of attempting to unravel a rather unintelligible plot, and has termi nated the short career of the Duchess Eleanour on the London boards. PRINCESS'S. THE new farce, Away with Melancholy, produced at the Princess's on Monday last, was but a mild success. Either from hardness of hearing or obtuseness of intellect we were unable to follow the plot distinctly, but we heard enough to satisfy us that the piece was an adaptation from the French, and we have since learnt that the original is entitled L'Homme a Deux Airs. The chief incident, that of a man forgetting a melody which it is of the utmost importance for him to remember, is happily conceived, but it is not well worked out; and the piece in the main, though con taining some smart dialogue, induces rather than dispels that "melancholy " to which its title invites the special attention of the public. The burden of the acting rests upon the shoulders of Mr. David Fisher, and it is but justice to say that he discharges his part with very great ability. This gentleman is undoubtedly a great acquisition to the London stage ; his defects are a certain mannerism of pronuncia tion and a want of care upon the stage ; let him overcome these and he will never want an engage ment. Mr. Meadows acted the part of Mr. Trimmer very creditably, but his dress was discreditable to any gentleman who professes to be an artist. Who ever saw human being in such a coat? Why will not the presiding genius of the Princess's wardrobe take the hint we have before given them, and borrow the designs of their neighbours, Messrs. Moses and Son, rather than trust to their own vain inventions. LYCEUM. THE Lyceum authorities may fairly claim credit for their introduction of Miss Talbot. Nature has in vested this lady with natural dramatic talent, which needs only more knowledge of the stage to render her a most efficient representative of many cha racters in light comedy ; and we strongly recom mend the playgoing public to lend their ears and offer their bands to The Charming Widow at the Lyceum Theatre. Number One round the Corner is one of those lively, light, amusing affairs giving Mr. Charles Mathews an opportunity of enacting one of those hop, skip, and jump characters in which he delights, and which never fail to delight his audience, SOHO. Ox Wednesday Mr. Henry Nicholls performed Iago: but, though he realised a clear and intelligent con ception of the part, we were not so favourably impressed as with his performance of Hamlet. Desdemona (Miss Powell) was a graceful impersona tion, and full of promise. Youth, beauty, and dm capacity to express tender emotions, though she evi dently wants confidence, afford promise of a career. tortign gert, *ittraturt, 6T. THE PROSPECT OF WAR has given much alarm to the French artists in St. Petersburg, and it is even said that the Russian public had already given tokens of coldness and displeasure at Mlle. Rachel's perform ances in the theatre there. In order to allay their apprehensions, Count Adleburg, chamberlain to the Emperor, summoned them together, and assured them, in the name of the Czar, that they had nothing to fear. "Whatever betides," his Majesty had com manded him to say, "tell the French comedians that they remain under my immediate protection, and the severest orders will be given to protect not only their persons but their talent." The French artists have written a letter of thanks to the minister, signed by their whole body, in order to be laid before the Emperor. THE JOURNALS OF PARIS have had a narrow escape. At a recent Ministerial council it was se riously proposed to suppress them all during the war. MM. Fould, Persigny, Fortoul, and Marshal St. Arnaud, voted for the suppression, and the re maining five members of the Ministry, MM. Dronyn de Lhuys, Bineau, Ducos, Magne, and Abbattneci, against it. It is understood that the Emperor's personal opinion is hostile to the journals, but on this occasion he thought fit to be governed by the bare majority of the Ministers. The bringing such a matter upon the Lapis, however, is the most terrible " warning " the press has yet received. If the Em peror's own views be as stated, they can scarcely hope for more than a respite. THE GREAT VERON CAUSE has been brought at length to a conclusion, and the doctor is cast. The case, it may be remembered, is this :—M. Veron having secretly, and, as the court has declared, ille gally, taken into partnership with himself, as manager of the Constitutionnet, the Count de Morny, one of the most powerful men in France, went round to the shareholders and told them that the property was worth nothing on account of the " warnings" he had received, and so frightened them that they agreed to a sale of the Constitutionnet for 720,(SX)f. to M. Mires. The real price was 1,1100,(X)Of., of which M. Veron pocketed 650,000 f. for himself, and gave 500,0001. to Horny. Of these sums he said nothing to the shareholders. When the fraud was di.co vered he had the hardihood to justify himself in a pamphlet in which lie advanced a legal argument that the girance of a paper was a thing quite dis tinct from the general partnership property. This allegation has been disallowed by the judgment of the court. Veron and Mires jointly and severally are ordered to repay the whole 1,180,0001. (Morny's share of the plunder being included), to be divided among all the shareholders. The court holds that, the shareholders having nothing to do with Count Morny, whose secret partnership it considers a nullity, he is not directly liable to them. But, unless M. Veron chooses to make him a present of the half million of francs, he will sue him for contribu tion, and in that suit will probably succeed. THAT portion of the Central Italian Railway which is to pass over the Papal territory, in the province of Bologna, was commenced on the 11th ult. Upwards of 2,000 labourers are now at work on the lett bank of the Reno, below the bridge, and in the direction of Castel Franco and Modena. This small portion of the important central line, the I'ia Latina line from Rome to Frascati (twelve miles), and the line to Civita Vecchia (forty-eight miles), jointly undertaken by the companies of Messrs. Thil and .tampon, are now actually and actively in progress ; but the line of most consequence to the Papal dominions, from Rome vid Ancona to Bologna, has not as yet been adjudged to any of the contending companies. THE Mmorial Bordelais states that. not far from St. Sever there is living an old military man who has a false leg and a false arm, both moveable by means of springs, a glass eye, a complete set of false teeth, a nose of silver, covered with a substance per fectly resembling flesh, and a silver plate replacing part of the skull. He bears on his breast the cross of the Legion of Honour, won in the campaigns of Egypt, Italy, and Russia; at Friedland, Jena, Aus terlitz, Wagram, and Waterloo. THE OPERATIC SEASON AT ST. PETERSBURG having been brought to a close, Madame Medori has de• dined accepting a new engagement which was proffered her by General Guidenoff, and is at present disengaged. This artiste during the season just terminated had taken the principal characters in Don Pasquale, Don Giovanni, Norma, Anna Doleful, .Roberto, I sinom 259