The Press. — London, England, 1854-03-25 00:00:00

1•••••••" , 284 .1.11. n.... the axe. Happily she has discovered a father in the person of the Jesuit Redclife, and, as the curtain falls, resolves to devote herself to filial duties for the rest of an otherwise solitary life. The characters of Anne and Ruth were admirabl reresented Murray Miss Woolgar and Madame Celes y te. p Leigh Murray looked handsomely and acted heroically enough for Rokewood; and Mr. Webster carried the ideal Jesuit through some rapid changes of costutne and charac ter, as a Quaker, a brigand, and a Hanoverian clergy man, in most effective s t y le. The drama, we need hardly add, was applauded to the echo on its first performance, has been repeated every night since, and is now established for a prolonged run as a genuine " Adelphi success." OLYMPIC. The Wrong Box, produced at this theatre on Monday last, is a very neat translation of La Nuit aux Souillets, which some years ago was a favourite piece at the Palais Royal Theatre in Paris. A Lox on the ear administered to Hercules 111., a young Duke of IFerrara, by his chief favourite, the Count de Candolle, is the turningpoint of the plot ; and this incident, ,with a certain admixture of love, intrigue, and jea lousy, is worked up by the skill of the dramatist into a very satisfactory and amusing little play. On the whole the acting is good. Miss P. Horton is very effective as the Duke, though she by no means por trays, or even attempts to portray, the folly and licentious idiocy which were the chid features of the part in the hands of its original representative, Le vasser. The Count de Candolle is excellently played by Mr. Wigan, but the first act is not so well suited to his peculiar talent as the second, where, finding that a terrible death is to be the fate of the man who has boxed the Duke's ears, he exhibits an abject fear and intensity of suffering which, though rendered somewhat comic by the situation, are thoroughly real and admirably rendered. Miss Wyndham, in the small part of Helen d'Orbignac, displayed remarkable intelligence. This is the second time this promising young actress has within these last few days succeeded in an original part. Miss E. Turner looked very pretty and was charm ingly impudent as Carlotta ; and Mr. F. Robinson's first appearance at the Olympic was very successful. The costumes are very beautiful and excellent, but we cannot commend the scenery, which is badly de signed and ill-painted. Ni first • , • -Sim, UM. r - - t L DM HARMONIC SOCIETY. THE programme of the second concert, given on Monday last, was as follows : PLaT I.—Sinfonis iu C, No. 1, Beethoven—Scene, "0, 'tie a glorious right" (Oberon), Mr. Sims Reeves, Weber—Concer• tante, No. 2, Two Violins, Mr. Sliilltoll and Mr. Tilagrove tipohr —Duet, "Ti veggo" (Proserpina) , Mi ss Stabbed) said Miss Poole, Winter—Overture, " Euxyanthe," Weber. I'ART 11.—Sinfonis, No. 3, Idendelesolin—Trio, " Even as they broke the cane" (Jessonda), Miss Stabbach, Miss Poole, and Mr. Sims Reeves, Spohr—Overture, Zaubertlate, Mozart The instrumental portion of this concert, though containing no work with which the subscribers and musical public are not familiar, was judiciously se lected. Beethoven's symphony, No. 1, would seem (though the fact is questioned by some German cri tics) to be the composer's first symphony, written be fore he had acquired the power of embodying those .marve llous thoughts and inspirations which con sti- Fte his title to pre-eminence over al l m usicians. In Writing the various movements of this symphony , ee thoven appears to have had the forms an d p hrases his predecessors, Haydn and Mozart, constantly present to his imagination ; and , thoug h the work is in every respect original, it labours under the disad vantage of a certain constraint of style which renders it, certainly not the less beautiful, but at all events less characteristic than the master's later works of the sante class. The execution throughout was excel lent, and the brilliant playing of the violins in the scherzo was the subject of general approbation. We do not ever remember to have heard Mendelssohn's symphony, No. 3, with more satisfaction : it formed an excellent contrast to Beethoven, No. 1, and was beautifully executed. To our mind, this work is the best that has been written since the time of fleet haven. The beautiful and touching andante, the spirited scherzo movement, the brilliant finale, and, withal, the poetic inspiration which pervades the whole, combine to render this symphony a per fect work of art. Spohr's duet for two violins gave great satisfaction to the audience, and served ad mirably to display the qualities of the two great vio linists to whom its int"rpretation was entrusted. The or chestras of Europe may, indeed, be safely challenged to produce a pair of artists who shall compete successfully with the two principal violins of the Philharmonic band. Nothing could be more unsatisfactory than the vocal music. The improvement which the present direc tors have effected in shortening the length of the concert should be followed by a total reform of the vocal department. Better abolish the singing altogether than year after year torture the ears of the subscribers. We omitted in our account of the first THE PRESS. concert to notice that the concert-rooms have been rearranged and repainted since last season. The new decoration is in the worst possible taste. The wax candles have been abolished, and the celebrated pic ture of " Britannia blowing her nose and the British lion scratching his" has been removed to make way for a circle of gas, more suited to a hippodrome than a concert-room. r PHILHARMONIC SociETv.—Our notice of the nicert is unavoidably postponed till next week. fort* art, Sittnturt, c. A FIRST-RATE HOTEL, which will be the only one in the city commanding a view of the Alps, is about to be erected at Berne. It will be called thn Grand Hotel de l'Europe, and the funds for its completion are to be raised by means of 5,000 shares of 4/. each. THE DIRECTORS OF THE SWISS TELEGRAPHS, MM. Brunner and Hipp, contemplate the publication of a daily telegraphic bulletin of the rates of the Paris, Vienna, Frankfort, and Augsburg exchanges on the day of their appearance, together with the political events designated by the press as causing the various movements in the commercial world. MLLE. RACHEL is expected in Paris from St. Pe tersburg next month. THERE have been lately discovered in some gardens near Nerac (Lot-et Garonne) a considerable number of Roman mosaics representing birds, fruits, fishes, flowers, and arabesques. They are considered to belong to the era of Julius Caesar, and are supposed to have been used in the palace of one of his proconsuls. A local tradition, however, declares that they were discovered a first time in the thirteenth century, and employed by the Templars in a magnificent comman dery which they had built on the site now occupied by the gardens mentioned above. Thatbnilding, the traditions state, was burnt down in about a century after, and human skeletons, charcoal, and burnt matters of various kinds lately found on the spot where these mosaics have beon discovered, seem to give some probability to the story. A part of these mosaics were purchased by a gentleman residing in the neighbourhood, to adorn his country seat, and the rest are offered for sale. IT results from some experiments recently made at Brest with the terrible boulets asphixians, that have been so much talked of, that they may, under certain circumstances, be very dangerous to the troops using them as well as to the enemy. A building containing a number of cats, dogs, and other animals, was fired at, and on inspection all of them were found to be dead from asphyxia ; but it happened that the shots were fired against the wind, and, although the distance was great, the poisonous vapour was rolled back with such effect that several of the artillery men were nearly choked, and some of them fainted. THE STREETS OF PARIS have been lately inundated with songs calculated to stir up the warlike spirit of France against Russia. The Czar and the Cossacks are held up as demons, and Nicholas himself is painted in colours which might make him be taken for his namesake. The whole of these songs are sanctioned by the Minister of the Interior, and each copy bears the stamp of his office. AN INCIDENT CONNECTED WITH THE DRAMA has just occurred in Paris, which is exciting some interest among persons connected with theatricals and with the press. It appears that a lady, who formerly belonged to the theatrical profession, was induced, in consequence of the absence of Mademoiselle Rachel, to appear last week at the Theitre Francais in one of the characters in which that great tragedian appears to great advantage—that of Hermione. The attempt did not meet with the success anticipated. On the contrary, strong signs of disapprobation were mani fested by the audience at the failure. Monday being the day on which the Paris papers publish their theatrical feuilletors, it was naturally expected that the failure of the Francais would be noticed. To the astonishment of the editors, an order, emanating from it is said Ministerial authority, was sent round to the papers, forbidding them to insert any observations on the failure in question, to write, in fact, as if no such occurrence had taken place at all. The Consti tutionnel accordingly appeared without any feuilleton. M. Jules Janin in the Dibats, alluding to Hermione, speaks with enthusiasm of Rachel, and of what she would do if she were present, but does not give one word in allusion to what was really done. The de butante, it seems, came out as Mlle. Danes, but her real name is Ledru, and she is the wife of the ex avocet. It is to the protection of M. Fould, the Mi nister of State, that she owes this official interference to prevent her fiasco becoming public. ANOTHER CASE OF EXCITEMENT has stirred the literary world in Paris during the past week, in the sudden appearance and equally sudden disappearance of a pamphlet entitled " Revision de la Carte de l'Europe." This brochure is quite understood to be the production of the highest personage in the State. On Saturday it was sent officieusensent to the Slide fri and the Journal des Debate, And these journals were authorised to publish it. The work is only sixteen pages, and is published by M. Plon, the publisher of the Emperor. The Siècle had already printed (but not published) this pamphlet, when an agent. from the Minister of the Interior arrived with counter orders. He at the same time seized upon the only copy of the pamphlet in the possession of the editor, directed the printed matter to be distributed, and destroyed all the proofs. He then proceeded to the printing office of M. Plon, seized all the copies of the pamphlet printed, and directed the composition of the pamphlet (for it was yet in type) to be destroyed. The meaning of all this is very mysterious. It appears that, by the plan laid down in this work, Lombardy was to be given to Piedmont; Moldavia and Servia to Austria ; the Crimea was to be given to the Porte; Poland was to be reconstituted, tinder the euzeraineth of Prussia; and Finland was to be restored to Sweden. .. AT THE WEEKLY MEETING OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS held on Wednesday, Mr. William Bird in the chair, a paper was read on some of the undeveloped resources of India, by George Buist, M.D., of Bombay. The paper stated that India embraced an area of 1,309,2(K) square miles, surrounded by a boundary of 11,260 miles, or nearly half the circumference of the globe. Of this, 800,758 belong to England, and 508,422 to native States. The present number of Europeans was about 00,000 to about 200,000,000 of natives—of which about 50,000 are private soldiers, and about 13,000 servants of the Government, of education and intelligence—or one to every 1,000 square miles. India yielded about 20,000,0001. of exports annually and the revenue, affording nearly a similar amount, formed but an inconsiderable fragment of what might be realised if proper means were adopted for their development. The paper for next week will be upon agricultural statistics by Mr. Leone Levy. Cittitsiastital. APPOINTM EN TS. The Rev. J. C. liolvlatt, M.A., to the Rectory of St. Paul's, Exeter. The Rev. Wm. Henry Carwithen, HD., to be a Surrogate fur the Arclideaeonry of Exeter. The Rev. Henry Beckwith, M.A., to the Rectory of St. Mary, Bishoplilii, York. The Rev. C. Bt. iogys Moxen, LL.B., to the Curacy of 14- keuham, Norfolk. The Rev. Henry Howson, M.A., to the Rectory of l ittle Horsted, near Uckfleld. The Rev. EL Morgan to the Rectory of St. Athan, Glamorgan shire. The Rev. John Anden. 8.A., to the Curacy of St. James's-hill, Sutton Cohltield, Warwickshire. The Rev. Dr. J. B. Mountain to be Chaplain to the High Sheriff of Bedfordshire. The Rev. Thomas Sikes,Rural Dean of Dunstable The Rev. E. F. Bayle, M.A., to the Incumbency of St. Peter's' Church, liammeremith. The Rev. Stephen Brown, S.C.L., to the Curacy of Johnston- arch Steynton, near Haverfordwest. The Rev. Richard Parrott, 8.A. , to t he Curacy of Yepytty. The Rev. George Lewis Coles to the Curacy of Clyro, Rad norshire. The Rev. John Duncan Myers, 8.A., to au Assistant Curecy tu the parish of Tenby. The Rev. William Edmunds to the Curacy of Lampeter pont Stephen. The Rev. Edward King, 8.A., to the Curacy of Penrith. The Rev. Thowits Lees, BA., to the Curacy of Kirkby Thorne, Westmorland. The lie,. Charles Win. Cox, 8.A., to the Curaey of Allhallows, near Wigton. The Rev. Robert Jackson Cuppage, 8.A., to the Curacy of Heston, Cumberland. The Rev. Richard Mulcaster, 8.A., to the Curacy of St. John's Vale, Keswick. The Rev. F. Caudwell to the Assistant Curacy of St. Stephen's Church, Devonport. The Rev. T. R. klusselwhite, 8.A., to the Curacy of Aston under-Edgmond, Shropshire. VACANCIES. The Rectory of Hilperton, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire; worth 3001. a year, in the gift of Mr. W. Long. The Rectory of Ilyswen, near Hay, Brecknockshire; worth 2001. a year, in the gift of Sir John Bailey, Bart. The Rectory of Eaton Bishop, near Hereford; worth 5001. a year, in the gift of the Bishop of Hereford. The Rectory of Blymhill, near Shiffhall, Lichfield ; worth 6001. a year, in the gift of the Earl of Bradford. The Incumbency of Thornaby, near Stainton, Yorkshire; worth about 2001. a year, in the gift of the Archbishop of York. Enibtrsitg 3ititiligtut. OXFORD. THE Ray. 3. PRID EAUI LIGHTFOOT, rector Pei Wootton, Northamptonshite, and honorary canon of terborough, was on Saturday elected to the headship of Exeter College, vacant by the death of 1)r. Richards Mr. Lightfoot ob tained a first class "In Literis liumanioribns " to Easter term, 1824, and in the same y ear he was elected a fellow. In 1827 he was ap i n ted college tutor. In 1833 he served the office of Junior proctor, and in the same year was presented by the rector and fellows of Exeter to the rectory of Wootton. THE proposal to affix the University seal to a petition to the House of Lords for leave to introduce a bill for effect ing the purchase of land in the parks, in furtherance of the proposal of obtaining a site for a new museum, was agreed to at a Convocation held on Saturday last. Tux candidates who have announced themselves for the new Latin professorship are :—Rev. G. Butler, M.A., Exeter College; Mr. John Conington, MA., fellow and