The Press. — London, England, 1854-01-14 00:00:00

JANUARY 14, 1854. Teachisgs of the Cholera. A Sermon preached on the Synodical Fast. By the Rev. W. H. Gray, A.M., Minister of Lady Yesters', Edinburgh. London : Arthur Hall, Virtue, and Co. A SENSIBLE discourse, in which the rev. author takes, to some extent, the same view as Lord Palmerston, viz., that the visitation of cholera should impress upon us the vital necessity of cleanliness, so briety, and temperance, both individually and col lectively. Novels and Tales by Goethe. Translated chiefly by R. D. Boylan, Esq. London : Bohn. Tins is one of a series of German classical works which find their place from time to time in the "Standard Library." The present volume contains "Elective Affinities," "The Sorrows of Werther," "German Emigrants," "The Good Women," and a " Nouvellette." Except the "Affinities," all the translations are by Mr. Boylan, who translated Schiller's "Don Carlos." The Works of Tacitus. The Oxford Translation. Revised, with Notes. Vol. I. The Annals. Lon don : Bohn. ANOTHER of Mr. Bohn's cheap and useful reprints, executed in the spirit of Tacitus himself, for it is not encumbered with a preface, or with any word not absolutely necessary. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. Castelbnuotate. Westerton. The Little Duke. J. W. Parker and Son. Zohrdb; and other POO7lll. W. T. Thornton. Longman, Brown, and Co. The Churehlllllll'S Year Buok. G. Cox. Florence the Beautiful. A. 11. Cochrane. Burst and Blacked. The Cross ITIAUS Crescent. The Past and Present Ministries. T. ilarrhion. ... The Story < t fAurient Nineveh. W. Freeman. Comm of (treat Britain ; Religions Worship. gyro and Spouts woode. J. C. Colquhoun, Esq. T. Hatehard. On National Education. The Varietiee qf Temperature. 8. Parlby. The Te.lers Tented. law.. F. Close. 1)1W). I)itto. Woe with Bassin. H. Lister. Simpkin and Marshall. National Education in Reottand. J. Hope. A. C. Moodie. Progresso, Russia in the Eaet. J. Murray. Clime to the Grand Jury at the Quarter Seasione for Kingeton- SpOIIoHYIII. S. Warren, D.C.L. W. Blackwood and Sons. Kew Mimic. - - Christian Layo. No. 1. Composed by U. A. Mad:wren. RUA and Co. ttt prama. DRURY-LANE THEATRE. THE new play, The Begging Letter, which we noticed last week, having been placed on the shelf—possibly consigned to the dead-letter office —a new piece called The Ladrone's Daughter was produced on Monday last. By way of second title the play is designated Paula Lazaro, such being the name of the heroine, who, however, in spite of the playbill, is not a la drone's daughter at all. Her father was once a respectable nobleman of Estremadura, but, having had his castle wracked and wife murdered by a cer tain Marquis Tavero, dresses as a mendicant, and nurses plans of venge anc e for eighteen years, during which period, with a remaining daughter as his companion, he wanders about the neighbourhood of his ruined château, where of course nobody recog nises him. In the meanwhile the sinful marquis has died; but he has left a son, and that son has found a daughter —so Lazaro supposes—and therefore plans to carry her off , choosing for that purpose, in order to make his revenge more bitter, the very night of a fête given in anticipation of her nuptials with Pablo, a worthy muleteer. This plan he carries into effect by aid of his friends, the ladrones, Anglice thieves—and very ordinary thieves they are, com manded by a leader endowed with the ordinary su pernatural qualities of a bandit chief. He goes every where in thin disguises, knows everything, strikes a whole company into panic by showing a pistol, and can always cro w d th e stage with ruffians upon blowing his whistle. How Lazaro's vengeance recoils upon Inni• self ; how Joanna turns out not to be the marquis's daughter, but his own; how Paula tries to save ber before knowing their sisterhood, and really succeeds in saving her afterwards ; how Pablo the muleteer is the true heir to the marquisate ; how the ladrone chief is shot by a comic barber ; and how a file of soldiers jump up at the back of the last scene, and fire a promiscuous volley which kills Lazaro and no one else just before the curtain falls—may be easily conceived by the experienced in melodramatic contrivances. The piece belongs to the same school as th e su p erse d e d B e gging Letter, but is a better specimen of the class. There is some sparkle in the dialogue, and some neatness in the construction of the play. It also introduced to the Drury Lane audience Mr.. T. Mead, au actor who has acquired much reputation in melodrama at the Surrey, and wh o p rom i ses t o b ecome an equa l favourite in his new areas. THE PRESS. OLYMPIC. Mr.DISRAELVS position, that "England d oes no t l ove coalitions," has received a singular confirmation in the fate of the Christmas piece at this house. The manager seems to have spared neither expense nor trouble to render the late lamented (for it is now num bered with the dead) Harlequin Columbus the best and brightest of its race. He entrusted the composition of the libretto to one of the most brilliant and able of our dramatic authors, and the scenery, dresses, and decorations were entirely new, and conceived in the best taste ; moreover, a number of the first artists of the day, native and foreign, anxious to show that de vtinimis curet ars, volunteered their services in those departments in which the hands of the painter and sculptor can be most effectually employed. Our readers will scarcely believe that this new combination of " all the talents " has re sulted in the withdrawal of the pantomime from the bills in the height of the Christmas season, after twelve nights' performance—a fact, we believe, un precedented in theatrical annals. Some cause may he found for this sad failure in the inefficiency of the representatives of Clown, Harlequin, and Pan taloon; but the imbecility of the Rochez family is not of itself a rock of sufficient magnitude to justify the catastrophe. The cause of the disaster must be traced to the fatal mistake of endeavouring to obtain success by means of a coalition, that is, by the union of minds which are independent of each other, and which have no sympathies in common, except so far as the desire to effect some distant though specific end. In this, as in all instances of the kind that have ever fallen under our notice, the want of har mony in thought and action have rendered power less those energies which, if directed in a proper channel, under the influence of some master mind, might achieve great things. The author has neither the experience nor the knowledge requisite for a writer of pantomime, and on this occasion has figured as a theatrical Mr. Gladstone. Over-conti dent in his abilities, he has plunged into a difficult and unknown subject; and the result is, the refusal of the public to accept his newly-created stock. Equally unsatisfactory was the last scene. The designers thereof, anxious, apparently, to extend to this theatre that " large measure of reform " in scene-painting which has of late years proved so beneficial to the treasury of the Lyceum, have met with a defeat which is the inevitable lot of those who, without due preparation s strive for a great effect. We confess we could neither admire the general design nor any of the details. The ship, the figure head, the colours, the arrangement, were alike displeasing to our eyes; and we looked in vain for that aerial perspective and fairylike effect which in our judgment should ever be combined in the culminating point of those pieces which are the pure creatures of imagination. Though we disclaim all intention of comparing Mr. Wigan's ability and honesty of purpose with the vacillating incapacity of Lord Aberdeen, and the acid party spirit of the Peelites, we cannot help feeling that the present fate of the Olympic coalition is a precursor of that which awaits the unprincipled combination which for the last twelve months has misgoverned this country. Wo must not omit to join with some of our con temporaries in giving credit to the manager for the manly course he has followed on this occasion. Admitting the failure without hesitation, lie has withdrawn the pantomime, and supplied its - place by reviving The First Night—an English version of Le Pere de la Dkbutantc—which he performed originally under Mr. Maddox's management at the Princess's. This play has been reproduced with the greatest success ; and deservedly so, for it is one of the best-acted pieces that we have seen of late years. Mr. Wigan's incomparable impersonation of the hero is too well known to enlarge upon. Although, for our part, we cannot abide the race of stage Frenchmen, we found the other night our objections fading away one by one, until at last they were all fairly overruled. Miss P. Horton is excellent as the daughter, and she gives a force and importance to the part which it has never bad at the hands of any former repre sentative. Her singing is quite admirable; and the duct between her and Mr. Wigan, from the Hugue nots, fairly took the house by storm. It is, in fact, too good for burlesque. Miss Wyndham surprised us by her perfermance of the difficult and ungrate ful part of Arabella Fotherivgay. We venture to prophesy that, it' she takes pains and studies hard, she will soon rise to a considerable eminence in her profession. Mn. JAMES HANNAY (author of "Singleton Fontenoy " and other works of fiction) is delivering his course of six lectures on satirical literature at the Marylebone Institution, Edwards street, l'ortman square. Ile lectured on the Oth inst. on Horace and Juvenal ; and the remainder of the series are to follow upon the 16th and 30th inst., February 10 and 20, and March 6. ..,,_" 7 prtign gai t Nittraturc, ttr. 43 THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BOOKS PUBLISHED IN P.tais in the course of 1853 was 8,000. In 1852 the aggregate of publications amounted to 8,002, show ing a diminuti m of 902 works during the past as compared with the preceding year. ANOTHER HISTORICAL EDIFICE, says the Journal de Loiret, has disappeared in this arrondissement. The Chateau de Chemault has been sold for the purpose of immediate demolition. Built in the reign of Charles VII., this château has successively belonged to the families of the Marquis Barbezieux, of Charlotte de Balzac, mistress of Marshal Bassom pierre, and latterly to the Counts de St. Ferriol. Henri IV. visited the chateau often in his hunting parties. The furniture of the chamber in which he slept has been religiously preserved untouched even to the present day. THE PLAN FOR CONSTRUCTING A RAILROAD from Algiers to Blidah, after receiving the approbation of the Colonial Council, has been referred to the Minis ter of War at Paid,. The consent of that minister's department is not doubted, and this work, whose results promise so many benefits to Algeria, will in all probability be in active accomplishment early in the coming spring. _ AN INTiiilisTitin DISCOVERY has been made at the fort of Vingt Quatre Heures, in Algeria. A crevice was discovered in pulling down part of the walls, which contained a skeleton, the position of whose arm and leg bones seemed to indicate that the body had been tightly bound when consigned to its resting place. From this and other signs it was concluded that the remains were those of St. Gemnimo, a French missionary, who was made a slave in Algeria, and, being martyred about the year 1549, was afterwards canonized. The discovery being notified to Monsig nor Pavy, the Bishop of Algeria, he took possession of the relics in a solemnity at which all the ecclesi astics and a multitude of the soldiers and other in habitants of the district assisted. _ _ AFTER A LAWSUIT which had lasted for nearly four years, through a series of appeals and processes, the proprietor of the New York Herold has been finally condemned to pay 10,000 dollar damages and costs to Mr. Fry, the manager of the Italian Opera-house in that city, for having libelled his admi-' its affairs. ion of MADAME IDA PFEIFFER, who is now in California, thus writes from San Francisco, under the date Oct. 30, 1853 :—" The city of San Francisco certainly ranges with the great wonders of the world, but it is not a wonder to charm or enchant. No less than six times in the course of five years it was destroyed by fire, yet it looks as magnificent as if it had never suffered by that element. It lies mostly on sandhills, which are covered with houses and huts up to their summits. The eentee of the city consists of an arti fieial piece of tolerably fiat ground, produced by filling up the bay with sand to the extent of one-third of an English mile. Here you would see a bustle as in the city of the English metropolis—where is a driving, riding, running, a haste and hurry as in a disturbed ant-bill. Houses of brick are built in an incredibly short time, so that streets are often not recognised after a month or two. While in the luxury and splendour which is to be seen in the interior of the houses, San Francisco rivals London and Paris, the filth without and the state of the streets generally far exceed Constantinople. These, forming as they do the common receptacle for all kinds of rubbish and filth, are, in the first instance, covered with a layer of dust and sand, upon which may be seen heaps of broken boxes and casks, crockery and bottles, cast-off clothes, linen and. okl shoes, together with the dead bodies of dogs' and rats. To balk through the streets is a punishment, and to extend your walk to the counry around an additional penalty, your legs soon becoming fatigued by the deep sand, and your eyes not the less so by viewing the mono tonous dreary landscape." Tsx COURT THEATRE AT MUNICH has been re cently rebuilt end redecorated, and opened on the 26th ult. one of the most extensive and magnificent theatres in Germany. It is lighted by a thousand and twenty-two jets of gas. The first representation in the new house was Goethe's Faust, with the music composed by Prince Radzovill. The Emperor of Austria, the King of Bavaria, with his Queen and the whole Court, were present at this performance. M. Benedict's Crusaders is in preparation, and the author has arrived in Munich to superintend the rehearsals. AT THE TUDELA THEATRE IN NAVARRE the perfor mance lately, according to the playbills, has con sisted of The Beheading of St. John the Baptist— " baile, canto, y sainete." THE TEATRO GRANDE AT TRIESTE. has opened for the season with I Puritani. Messrs. Stecehi- Botardi, Giraldoni, and Mme. Valesi, who sustained the principal parts, are said to have meritoriously exerted themselves. VERDI'S Louisa Miller has been given at the Oriente in Madrid with great success. Mile. Cazza ' niva, as the heroine, is very highly spoken of. I