The Press. — London, England, 1858-09-18 00:00:00

THE PRESS, SEPTEMBER 18, 1858. evidences of his ability as a singer of buffo parts. The chorus was very efficient ; and the orchestra, under the direction of Mr. Mellon, ably discharged their duty. 'the entertainments terminated with a ballet divertissement, executed by Mesdames Mot.- l a cchi, Pasquale,and a numerous corps de ballet. IVe understand that two novelties are in course of preearation—an opera by Balfe, and a new work by American composer. SI3TFIE LYCEUM. —A farce, entitled Tco Much a nd Good Nature, was produced on Saturday night, and met with unequivocal success. Without much pre tension to originality in the plot, the new piece is lively and the situations effective. Mr. Adolphus (MnEmery), a good-natured man, and Mrs. Alol phus (Miss Portman), have just enjoyed five weeks of matrimony when the piece opens, and during that period we have the testimony of their maid Betty Miss Eate Saxon), that Mrs. Adolphus has not permitted Mr. Adolphus to remain out of her sight for five minutes. Mrs. Adolphus is now setting out to see a sick aunt, and positive are the injunctions given to Betty to keep a watch over her " master." But no sooner has Mrs. A. left in the train, than Mr. A. °rings in a file of newspapers and a dozen cigars as a beginning to make himself comfortable. He is reading an account of the revolution in Tahiti when the first-fluor lodger, Mr. Spalding (Mr. Garden), a mesmeric madman, requests the use of his room for the purpose of throwing Miss Jones, a fellow lodger in the same house, into a clairvoyant state. Mr. Spalding is too much afraid of Mrs. Spalding to try his science in his own apartment. Mr. Adolphus grants the use of the room to get rid of the scientific monomaniac. Scarcely has Mr. Spalding left the roon when Mr. Jaffier Jenkins (Mr. J. Rogers), the inhabitant of the attic and the mad lover of Matilda Jane Chummy (Miss Gilbert), enters, and asks the use of the room for an interview with the " adored Matilda Jane," as Mrs. Chummy will by no means permit that interesting ceremony to take place in her own room. To get rid of his new visitor, who is ten times more insane than the firmer one, Mr. Adolphus also promises the use of his apartment to Jen kins. The aunt too, whom Mrs. Adolphus went to see has come down tl Mr. Adolphus, and privately gains admission into Mr. A.'s bedroom. The result is, that on the return of Mrs. A., Miss Chummy is found concealed in the lumber room, Miss Jones on the sofa in a mesmeric trance, and a most ludi crous scene ensues. The innocent and good-natured Adolphus would have been ejected nem. con. were it not for the testimony of the aunt, who explains to the satisfaction of the indignant Chummies, Spat dings, Joneses, and Mrs. Adolphus, that the whole thing on the part of Mr. A. was " quite innocently done." The piece, which appeared to give general satisfaction, was announced for repetition. SADLER'S WELLS. The dramatic season recom menced at this theatre on Saturday under the management of Mr. Phelps, with Othello, one of the b.-t in the role of this clever actor. The cast was effective, the principal characters being Mrs. Charles Young as Desdemona, Mr. Marston as logo, Mr. F. Robinson as Cassio, Mr. Belford as Roderigo ; nor must we omit Miss Atkinson, who played Emelia carefully and judiciously. All the minor parts were well filled. The house was crowded, and the meeting of the audience and the actors was like the reunion of friends after a temporary separation. Mr. Phelps was called before the curtain between the acts to receive the plaudits of the audience, and again at the close of the pl a y. Th e f arce of ? Mrs. White—in which Mr. Charles Young, late of the Strand Theatre, rude his debut in the character of Peter White — concluded the evening's entertainment. THE STRAND.—A new piece, which is little more than a sketch, entitled Nothing to Nurse, has been produced at this theatre. The plot turns on the attempt of a graceless nephew to get over pecuniary difficulties by representing to a rich uncle that he has married and has a fine boy. The uncle, over joyed, comes to town to see the baby, and the diffi culty of the nephew to "get something to nurse" for the old uncle forms the comicality of the plot. The uncle discovers the attempted imposture, but the Piece ends happily—the nephew getting a real wife, with the uncle's blessing. The farce cannot be said to have been successful. MR. ALFRED WIGAN.—We are happy to say that the health of this favourite actor is quite restored. Vubitt lmustratitts. WILTALBA FRIKELL.—The magician's wand waved by the hand of the most expert amongst modern professors of the mystic art nightly attracts cr owded audiences to th e Polygraphic Hall. " Two } lours of Illu s i ons " i s the appropriate description of an entertainment of physical and natural magic, not only wonderful in itself, but remarkable as an evidence of a Complete revolution in legerdemain. Herr rrikell is, in fact, the founder of a new school. Others have played fantastic tricks," repudiating the confederacy which the gorgeous robe and the glittering apparatus alike suggested. Professor Wiljalba Frikell dispenses with such material aids. No machinery cunningly devised finds a place in the pretty little chamber wherein, for his third season, he :exercises his spells. No well-tutored attendant awaits his summons, or if he does, it can only be as a trial of human patience, for he is never called. Kerr Frikell stands unaided and alone. Wondrous are the feats of the agile little Russian, whose debonair manner and pleasing exterior at once place him on the most intimate terms with his auditory, and almost cause us to believe that our previous estimate of the " rugged Russ " was also an " illusion." Clad in evening c4 , stume, he went through his varied per formances with an ease and dexterity which proved a complete mastery over the science of which he is, in truth, an unrivalled professor. In vain should we attempt to describe the marvels which we wit. nessed. Coins, which had previously quietly lain in porte-monnaie or capacious pocket, were placed in a tumbler, and, attracted by an invisible power, told with unerring accuracy the numbers on a pack of cards or the precise quantity of cigars with which a visitor had replenished his case. A bank note for 1001. was recklessly burnt before the astonished spectators and was subsequently produced by a canary which had met a violent death in a lady's pocket - handkerchief, but which afterwards aut. tered from a temporary prison in the inside of a lemon. Hats became inexhaustible, and produced their fifties of silver cups, and now and again the bouquets and souvenirs, with which the good natured protessor deluged his company. We cor dially recommend this attractive entertainment not only to the juvenile community, but to children of a larger growth, being perfectly assured that no one will recret his " Two Hours of Illusions " with Professor Frikell. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THEATRE.4.—MT. W. Har rison has addressed the following letter to a con temporary :—" The very first consideration of Miss Louisa Fyne and myself upon becoming managers of Drury-lane Theatre (before the terrible tragedy at Sheffield bad been enacted) was to see whether the facilities of rapid egress were sufficient for so large a building. We have had several interviews with Mr. Nelson, the architect to the committee of proprietors, upon the subject, and have carefully examined every passage, staircase, and other com munication which we found in use. It was with no slight degree of satisfaction that we discovered these communications to be entirely fireproof—a most important matter to begin with—and, more over, sufficiently commodious to prevent any fear of the occurrence of any such fatality as that which immediately afterwards took place at Sheffield. We found, however, that certain passages, staircases, and doors had been for a long while disused. Some of them, in fact, bad not been made use of for five-and twenty years. It is true that the existing commu nications seemed sufficient without these to meet almost any conceivable contingency; but, determined to err, if at all, upon the safe side, we immediately had all these extra means of egress—six in number —thrown open to the public, and now the theatre, however densely crowded, could be safely emptied in ten minutes." PICCOLO MINI will take leave of the Eng lish public at a farewell concert at the Crystal Palace, on Tuesday, the 28th instant. She sails from Southampton, for a lengthened tour in the United States, on the following day. THE FOLLOWING STAGE APeLOGY Was made in Sunderland last week :—" Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will excuse our performance, but our vio linist is in a state of beastly intoxication ; the pianist is doing his best, but fourteen or sixteen strings of the piano are broken." QUEEN'S COLLEGE, BIRMINGHAM. AT the annual meeting of the governors and friends of Queen's College, recently htld, the Rev. Chancellor Law (the vice•principal) in the chair, the report of the council for the past year was read, and from it we make the following extracts : The aggregate number of students registered as studying at Queen's College within the period com prised between the Ist of October, 1857, and the pie sent date, is greater than in any former year. MEDICAL DEPARTBIENT.--ThiS department has in every respect hilly supported its character during the past session. Your council have great reason to be satisfied with the reports made to them by the pro. fessors and tutors of the general good conduct and regularity of the students. The chaplain's register shows that the daily attendance at Divine service has been good, and the attendance of the stu. dents, both senior and junior, at the theological lectures quite satisfactory. At the close of every term a written examination has been held, at which the students of the respective classes have been re quired to•attend. ARTS DEPARMENT.—The senior tutor and chaplain reports :—" I am glad to notice that the two students who were under my care while preparing for the London University examinations, Greig and Fox, recently passed the matriculation examination of the first division. Two other students have also passed the Apothecaries'-hall preliminary examination creditably." THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT.—The engineer ing class, while it affords the most ample means for securing a first-rate education for persons intending to follow the professions of civil and mechanical engineering, with a degree which the college, under its charter, had power to confer, by the above rule, will also afford such a part of the whole as may be sufficient for those who do not intend to follow those professions, but to whom, as manufacturers, such part so obtained will be of the greatest value. LAW DEPARTMENT.—The number of students the first term was thirteen, and the second and third fourteen. Of this number one gentleman is keeping his terms, preparatory to a call to the bar; another is reading for a degree in laws at the London Uni versity ; and eleven are articled to solicitors. Con sidering that the attendance on law lectures is not at present made a necessary sundition to examination by the Incorporated Law Society, and that much prejudice on this subject has yet to be overcome, the number of students is encouraging, and the professor reports favourably of their regular attendance and attention. It is hoped, however, that next year the Birmingham Law Society will appoint examiners to conduct terminal examinations, and that the college will be thus enabled to distinguish its meritorious students in this as in other departments. THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.—The Professor of Theology reports :—" During the academical year lately closed there has been an average of rather more than twenty-one students in attendance on his lecture, the average for the previous year being Sf: teen, and for the year 1836 eleven. In the past year eight students have gained the certificate, most of whom expect ordination in September next. Three students also have been accepted by bishops as can didates for holy order- without any certificate. The mass of evidence recently collected by the select committee of the House of Lords has brought into more distinct notice the existence of an appalling amount of spiritual destitution in this land, and has directed anxious attention towards the best means of providing for it. In that evidence it appears again and again that there is the most urgent necessity for a large and speedy increase in the number of the clergy. It is thought by many experienced persons that in a manufacturing or mining population a body of clergy drawn less exclusively than at present from the upper and wealthier classes, would, and so far as it has been tried does, succeed in many departments of paro chial work as well or better than those who have been more highly educated, and who are more removed from their flocks in habits and ideas. There is evidence to show that such men penetrate into quarters which are practically closed against their superiors, that their ministrations are more frankly received by many amongst the working classes, and that their manner of teaching is more intelligible and persuasive to them. There can be no doubt that the prevalence of Rornanism and dissent amongst the masses of our people is greatly due to the fact that these denomi nations draw their ministers more largely from the lower ranks of society than does the Established Church. While the professor by no means desires to intimate that his department draws, or seems likely to draw, its students chiefly from classes of society lower then those from which the ranks of the clergy are usually recruited (the fact being that several graduates of different universities have from time to time entered, that several of the stu dents are often men of means and position, and others the sons of beneficed clergymen whose cir cumstances render it expedient to avoid the expense of an education at Oxford or Cambridge), still he may be permitted to point out that the arrangements of his department are well adapted to meet such a state of things." CHEMISTRY.—It is sincerely hoped Professor Bond will spare no endeavour to keep pace with the nro. gress made in the various departments of chemical philosophy, but more particularly in those directly bearing upon the study of medicine. Gnonoex.—The invaluable services of D. T. Ansted, Esq., have been secured as professor of geology—a gentleman who erOys a European repu tation, and whose appointment cannot but give a most important impulse to the study of geology, a branch of knowledge at the present day so indispen sable in this great mining district, and at the same time give additional strength to your institution, by adding one to the list of distinguished men now associated under your direction for the cultivation of science in all its departments in the midland metro- polls. AotucumunE —lt is confidently hoped that in the recently established agricultural chair Mr. Tanner will succeed in imparting valuable instruction in a branch of human knowledge essential to the happt. ness and prosperity of the nation. 1 I