The Press. — London, England, 1854-02-25 00:00:00

oPuT FEBRUARY 25, 1854. schools. This may be taken as a proof of the adhesion of Government to the new method, though official caution may interpose some delay before its practical adoption. 1. A Plea for National Education with Religion and without Rates. By the Rev. William Francis Wilkinson, M.A. London : J. W. Parker and Son. 2. A Voice from the Church. Edinburgh : Moodie. 3. Parish School Statistics. Edinburgh : Moodie. I. The substance of this pamphlet of fifty two pages has, we are told in the preface, already ap peared "in a periodical of large circulation." The author clearly and dispassionately examines and discusses the various schemes that have been put forth on this difficult and important subject, and finally comes to the conclusion that the system adopted "by the Committee of Privy Council, with " the acquiescence of Parliament, is the best that "can be pursued." But Mr. Wilkinson recommends a large extension of the system, which would, he thinks, result in " a truly national constitution and " Christian education." The author is happy in pointing out the impossibility of separating education from religion. If the attempt were made, the task of selecting books " could be only assigned, with the " chance of approximating success, to some very " zealous, sensitive, sharpsighted unbeliever." Mr. Wilkinson somewhat fancifully rejects the proposal to support schools by rates, because it would lead to the association of education and pauperism in the popular mind, and would so far, therefore, be de trimental to the cause intended to be advanced. This pamphlet was, however, worth reprinting, and its appearance is opportunely timed. No. 2 is reprinted from the Church of Scotland Magazine and Review. No. 3 is the second edition of a pamphlet in which certain speeches and resolutions made at a public meet ing on national education are reviewed, and the Church of Scotland is " vindicated from the aspersions of " Lord Panmure" and others. The numerous and recurring publications on education show the increas ing interest which is taken in the subject. Colonial and International Postage. Arranged by Henry Derecourt. London : Cawley and Co. A. COLLECTION of letters, speeches, petitions, articles from newspapers, and miscellaneous information from various sources, relating to the mismanage ment of the Post•otllce, which is now, especially in the transmission of letters to and from our distant colonies, a general subject of complaint. Mitch desultory information is brought , together within a small compass, but there is no attempt at order or arrangement. Rhymes. By George Thomas May. London : Hardwicke. As at first we did not observe anything in this little volume to distinguish it from the thousand similar productions which the new method of publishi to png assfor au thors has brought to light, we were about it without comment, when our attention was attracted by the following instance of the absurd, which certainly deserves to be rescued from silent oblivion Could the memory kindle a flame, Such as Muses are wont to inspire, Old Ocean should heave in my strain, And my narrative glow with the tire! It is well for the fishes that the author cannot accomplish his desire, otherwise their con dition as described in the famous poem beginning, The aun's perpendicular rays Had illumined the depths of the sea, which wrung from them the complaint, " Oh, how hot we shall be," would seem paradise in compa rison. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. Poetry of the Anti-Jacobin. Second Edition. By ill is. C. Edmonds. W A Letter to the Earl of Derby on University Reform. By H. B. Wilson, B.D.Ridgway. Wellington and Napier. A Supplement to Indian Mis government. eterton. A Voice from the Church on National Education. Edinburgh : Moodie. Parish Sehoul Statistics. Shall Turkey Lire or Die, By T. Carlyle, Esq. Bosworth. A Word to the British Public before entering intoGo; War with Russia. bourn. Private Lefties on the Eastern Question. By Lord Pon sonby (Viscount Pons onb y ). Folthorp. The Advocate of National Instruction. Cash. THE PRESS. etc puma. 187 of Mr. Hullah's upper singing school, and the vocal forces were supported by a band containing some of the best instrumentalists in London. MR. ELLA'S MUSICAL EVENINGS. WE shall next week give a report of the first of these interesting performs:ices. PRINCESS'S. IT has seldom been our lot to attend a more dreary performance than the revival of Cibber's Richard the Third at this theatre on Monday last. During three mortal hours and a half we wended our way through murders, processions, and battles, to the final catas trophe ; and we honestly confess that the grim satis faction which we felt on witnessing the tyrant's death was more owing to the relief thereby afforded to the tedious splendour which had for so long a time op pressed our senses than to the well-merited punish ment of heinous and appalling crimes. Yet for this result we do not blame the manager. Having taken upon himself the arduous task of always keeping in stock what is termed a legitimate play, he has not acted unwisely in reproducing Richard the Third, which has been so popular with the English public; and it would be unjust to hold him responsible for defects which it is not in his power to cure. True it is that he has presented us with Cibber's not Shakspeare's version, and has apologised at some length for doing so ; yet we much doubt, even if the original text had been restored, whether the audience would have returned from the fray one whit the gainers. Cibber's hotchpotch is dull enough in all con science ; but in thes:e days, when a historical play of this kind succeeds more by tradition than actual merit, a pure Shaksperian version, denuded of " So much for Buckingham !" "Richard's himself again !" dm. &c., would fail to raise even a shadow of enthu siasm, no matter how great the talent of the actors. Mr. Kean's Ricliard is quite on a level with the rest of his Shalespearian impersonations. In those parts of the tragedy where he spoke quietly, and in his natural voice, he was at times very effective; but his unmeaning violence and incorrigible faults of emphasis prevail so greatly over the unquestionable merits be possesses that his per formance could not be otherwise than painful to a reflecting and well-instructed spectator. The audience on Monday night, however, were by no means of this opinion : they applauded tie play throughout, and clamoured for the her at the close, after a fashion which showed that old, honest., thoroughgoing rant can be as well appreciated and relished ate Prin ce • s's as in a suburban theaTe or a provirffal barn. With the exception of King Henry the Sixth (very indifferently performed by Mr. Graham), there is scarcely another character in the tragedy of any inte rest. It is but justice, however, to say that Miss Heath, who is a young lady of considerable ability, performed Lady Anne in a highly-satisfactory manner. The play is put upon the stage with an attention to detail and a magnificence of spectacle which render the acting quite of secondary importance. The ar mour, dresses, ttc. are as perfect as the rec ords of an ti q uity and the skill of artists can make them—the scenery is a great improvement upon that painted for the pantomime—and, generally speaking, the stage arrangement is judicious and extremely effective. While on this subject we would entreat Mr. Kean not to allow the actors and actresses who address him on the stage to turn their hacks to the audience. This practice, so inveterate in all plays in which Mr. and Mrs. Kean act, is not only meet injurious to the har mony of the general picture, but disposes the sterner critics to suspect (unjustly, no doubt) that the ma nager thinks more of himself than his brother ac tors. ortiga art, yiteraturt, &c. Exhaustion of space and exergy obliges us to post pone our criticism upon Mr. Gustavus Brooke's per formance, as a rival Richard, at DRURY LANE. Usti. THE FIRST OF THE IMPERIAL FANCY BALLS, so long announced, came off on Saturday night at the Tui • leries. It is described as having been very splendid. Until the fetes given during past seasons at Buck ingham Palace, however, there was no particular epoch selected for the costumes. The Emperor was dressed iu the new uniform of the Imperial Guard which he intends to create. The tunic was yellow, with gold embroidery, and boots ala Suwaroff. The Empress was dressed in a Greek costume, exceed ingly rich, but rather fanciful. She looked well, anti was in high spirits. In the opening, all the ladies were dressed as heathen goddesses, the leader being the Princess Mathilde as Juno. One of the ladies in this quadrille was the beautiful Countess Putocka, to whom Louis Napoleon paid his addresses many years ago, when a refugee in Switzerland. She was splendidly attired as Diana, her corsage being of silver scale armour, the quiver for the arrows also in silver, and the belt by which the quiver was attached to the shoulder of the wearer was studded with bril liants estimated at upwards of three millions of francs. Immediately after the quadrille, Marshal Magnan, at the head of all the French generals pre sent, the whole of whom were dressed in the costume of the Garde Francaise of the time of Louis XV., filed off before the Emperor and Empress. The se • cond quadrille was led off by the Countess Maleret, one of the dames d'honneur of the Empress. The third quadrille was a military one, being called " De la permission de dix heures," in reference to the well known engravings from which the costumes were taken. The fourth quadrille was composed of Hun garian and Polish costumes, and was led off by the Comtesse Tascher de la. I'agerie. The Ministers were all dressed in the austere costume of Ministers of the time of Henry IV. Lord Cowley was in a mag nificent dress of white satin, said to be the costume of a Knight of the Bath. It was remarked that both the Emperor and Empress were particular in their attentions to M. Hubner, the Austrian Minister, and that their Majesties continued for a considerable time in earnest conversation with him. 'Vely Pacha, the Ottoman Ambassador, wore the gorgeous and imposing costume of a Turkish pacha of the olden time. His turban of the richest cashmere, the tunic covered all over with gold embroidery, the rich pe lisse lined with fur as delicate as the most delicate down, and the diamond-hilted poniard and scimitar, were truly characteristic. The Emperor spoke for some thnc., with the Pacha, and said, among other things, that he hoped he was satisfied with him, as he was about to send 10,000 turbans to Turkey—al luding to the Zouaves. The Ambassador replied that he was most gratified at the sympathy and co operation of France ; that the 10,000 his Majesty spoke of would be received with enthusiasm by the T ur kish people and army, whether they appeared. in turbans or not. MEYEUBEFR'S NEW OPERA, L'Etoile du Nord, was produced on Thursday week at the Opera Comique. Great eclat attended the first performance, at which the Emperor and Empress assisted, and the oFera was crowned with the most triumphant success. The hero and heroine of the libretto are Peter the Great of Russia and the Empress Catherine L, the story involving the historical fact that the Czar elevated a peasant girl to the imperial throne. The plot, however, works out this result through a most apocryphal and complicated series of incidents, in- HARMONIC UNION. , traduced for the purpose of affording opportunities, MF.NDELSSOHN'S Midsummer Night's Dream *nu successively, to the composer, the conductor, the Handers Acis and Galatea were p er formed at this singers, the sce ne-painters, the stage manager, and conc ert on Wednesday last , in the presence of' a the " property"-man. As these opportun ities are c rowded audience. The manner in which Handel's most industriously improved, the result was, as we seren at a was given was very satisfactory, even to us who have stated, a full success. The critics of the Paris well remember its production under Mr. Macready's press speak rapturously of the music, which they management twelve or thirteen years ago at Drury. characterise a zar n splendidly grand and o as riginal Catherine l an e Theatre , Theatre, and who heard the music with every taile as the C and !Mlle. Dupree species of accersory that could delight the senses. some res pect superior to that of Drury L a ne. Mr. digl in his best day s, Si g nor Belletti is the most e ffective Polyphemus we have ever he ard. The deli g hted with the entertainmen t p rovided for them. ac ted and sang exceeding l y well, and were recalled Musically speaking , the p resent performance is in at the close of the perf ormance. The composer also r eceived a tumultuous ovati on. Sims Reeves is a far better Acis than any that ap- Lons /dowses, who is still in California, was re peered there. With the excep tion, p erhaps, of Stau- cently arrested for assault and ba tter y , and heavily fi ne d. Becoming enraged at her Ch inese servant, she seized him by his l on g tail of hair, tied it to the c horuses were well sung , an d all p resent seemed much doorknob, and slapped hi s j aws most unmercifully. She had the poor fellow tigh t, so that he could not ST. MARTIN'S HA LL. jerk loose unless he scalped himself. After the per.• ON Wednesday last Handel's oratorio, Judas Macca- petration of this feat the quondam countess still fur bets, Wan performed for the first time under Mr. ther " astonished the natives" by mining a whole day in Hulle direction. The solo singers were Mrs. a corduroy Bloomer costume. To cap the climax of En derssohn, Miss Dolby, Mr. Augustus Braham, her eccentricities, Lola has sued for a s eparation Mrs. Torrington, Miss Freeman, and Mr. Bodda. from her husband, after only a few months, and The chores was, as usual, composed of the members sought the protection of a handsome caballero. Ditto.