The Press. — London, England, 1854-04-01 00:00:00

APRIL 1, 1854. various ways of spelling them, because they find it difficult to say " cheese." That eminent authority, the Rev. Mr. Renouan [meant for Renouard], has shown that the sound is the same as ch in cheese, chin, cheque, or in the well. known fish called Chad. As the form of such words is sometimes a link in detecting national influences, it may be as well for English geographers to preserve the spelling of C h d. ' " Now, even if this statement were true, which it is not, it may be asked, whether such a silly and foolish remark as that the Germans find it difficult to say `cheese' be. comes the dignity and character of a person reporting the proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society ? " The point involved in this question we shall not at tempt to solve, but we heartily agree with the writer that, if the report emanates from " a systematic deter " mination" to obstruct the cause of African discovery because it has been successfully prosecuted by Ger mans, such a feeling is to be severely reprobated. Mr. Petermann may rest assured that illiberality of this nature is rare in England; indeed, we generally seem to have acted on the conviction expressed by Mine Host in The Merry Wives of Windsor, that " Germans be honest men." Dramatic Register for 1853. London : Lacy. Tins publication, as its name implies, is a full, true, and particular account of all theatrical proceedings during the past year, in London and elsewhere. The compiler has evidently bestowed a great deal of care and trouble upon the work, and has appended the names and origin of all the pieces that have been produced, as well as those of the ladies and gentle men who have made first appearances. To any person connected professionally with the stage, as well as to the dramatic amateur, this little book will be invaluable. Juvenile Delinquency, the Social Problem of the Day : its Prevention Easier than its Cure. A Lecture. By the Rev. T. L. Wolley. London : Rivingtons. Tits public no longer requires to be told, except by way of reminder, of the extent of juvenile crime, and the importance of dealing with it by preventive means. And, though Mr. Wolley has cited facts and figures bearing on this subject, they are for the most part such as have already appeared in print He objects to reformatory schools, as usually proposed, that they receive children only at an age when habits of vice are already contracted, and are often incor rigible. He therefore suggests the establishment of "juvenile asylums" where they may be taken in at any age between two and six years. This is well; but when he farther proposes that every child shall in these asylums be fed gratuitously, or nearly so, the parent contributing only a small part of the cost, we are compelled to question the wisdom of a plan which destroys all independence in the labourer, and teaches him to rely on what is, in fact, eleemosynary aid. Mr. Wolley holds that the end—the inducing a child to attend school—justifies the means ; but it is a dangerous principle to affirm that this object should be effected by means of a bribe, given nomi nally to the child, really to the parent. In a word, the plan here suggested shows more benevolence than wisdom. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. Boo&8. Gibbon's Rome. Vol. 111. Bohn, Annotated Edition of the English Poets." Cowper," Vol. I. Parker and Son Roudedge The Midshipman. Rev. F. W. Mant. PAMPHLETS. One Language before the Flood. Rev. J. Curtiphes. Piper, Stenson, and Co. log and Magog ; or the Doom g/ Russia. Ditto. A Voice from the Pulpit on the Coming War. Rev. T. G. Horton. Judd. A Plain,and Easy Account of the British Ferns. Hardwick°. The Abuse and Reform of the Monitorial System of the Har row Schools. Earl of Galloway. Hatchard. A Proposition for a People's Society as a Means of Mediation in the Matter of Strikes and Lockouts. Aylott and Co. Barmah, Letters and Papers written in 1852-53. Major- Geueral H. Godwin. Bosworth. A Few Words on the Monitorial System at Harrow. Ditto. The New Existence of Man upon the Earth, Part I. R. Owen. Wilson. Secret and Confidential Correspondence of the Czar of all the Russia.. Rag!. The Bank Charter in the Crisis of 1847. Richardson, Brothers. gilt puma. PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Tim story of the Femme Ineomprise, and the perils her virtue undergoes between the unworthy husband and the all-worthy lover, is one of which the French public seem never likely to tire. So long as there is a little variety in the incidents, a little ingenuity in the plot, and a little sparkle in the dialogue, they re ceive its thousandth repetition in novel or drama with the same tumultuous rapture that they read or listened to its first production in the ranian-feuilieton THE PRESS. or the romantic drams. For the English public also the same tale has been dished up at least sufficiently often ; and was yet once again presented at the Prin eess's Theatre on Saturday last, under the title of The Married Unmarried. the story in the present adaptation runs exactly in the old grooves, ant is not worth recapitulation. Suffice it to say that the hus band is made a somewhat worse villain than such cattle usually are, and is discovered pretty early in the play to have committed bigamy. In this fact the ex perienced spectator at once recognises the instrument which is to cut the entanglement of the plot at the proper crisis, and foresees that all will be happy when the curtain falls. The" situation "of the piece is where Colonel Ma/Ji (such is the husband's name) returns home unexpectedly, and, knowing that the lover, Juan de Vilmain, is hid in a closet, orders him to be bricked up alive in the (presence of his agonised Adele, while he himself proceeds coolly to eat his supper. Closets, however, have more sides than one. Hermetically sealed at the doorway, Juan breaks through a lath-and-plaster partition behind, and finds his way back to the chamber just in time to see Colonel Malfi carried off by a file of gendarmes, charged with we know not which of his long cata logue of crimes. The piece was redeemed as far as possible by the tastefulness of its appointments and the skill of the performers. Among them we must especially commend Miss Heath, who played a very uphill character so as to render it impressive and pleasing. But the play belongs to the lowest and most commonplace class of dramatic productions, and we are not sorry to record that it has been re peated with very moderate success. ADELPHI. A maur farce, founded upon and entitled The Moustache Movement, was brought out at the Adel phi Theatre on Thursday night. With a meagre and confused plot, there was much rattling fun in terspersed. The Seeleys (Mr., Mrs., and Miss), 0. Smith, and Mr. Parselle were well suited with parts, and the result has been an unequivocal success. STRAND. ON Tuesday Miss Rebecca Isaacs made her re appearance here in one or two of the series of amusing little pieces with which the lessee of the Strand nightly regales his visitors. Miss Isaacs was cordially received, as usual, in a succession of musi cal parts. Miss Fanny Beaumont exhibited consi derable talents as a soubrette in a piece called The Blue Jackets of Old England. SOHO. • Mu. HENRY Nicnoms appeared at this quiet little theatre on Tuesday last in the character of Othello. His powerful voice is excellently modulated, his acting good, and his success with the audience was complete. Occasionally, but very rarely, his tones were rather loud ; but, in such a character and in a small theatre, this is a trivial blemish, which no one could avoid without long practice. Mr. Nicholls has only appeared six times on the stage. lago was per formed as well as it could be, considering that the gentleman who took the part has a comic and plea sant expression of countenance, is fat, and was en cased in strong garments, much too tight, resembling those of a postillion. The result was, that when he should have knelt down with Othello to join in the vow of vengeance he failed in the first sudden at tempt, rose with a rebound, and was obliged to try again and exert skill to effect his object. But the audience seemed to like him all the better for this mishap; and, after the play was over, and Mr. Nicholls had received and acknowledged his meed of applause, when lago appeared with E►nilia, their efforts were properly recognised by the audience. On Tuesday next Mr. Nicholls will perform in the character of Macbeth. We hope lago wont appear as Banquo's ghost! Vusir. NEW PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY. THE following is the programme of the first concert : PART I.—Overture (Medea), Cherubini—Paasions•Musik. tie solo parts by Madame Caradori and Herr Reichert, J. Seb. Bach —Concerto in D minor, Pianoforte, Miss Arabella Goddard, Mozart—Aria, " Softly sighs " (Der Freyschiaz), Madame Cara. dori, Weber—Concerto in D, Violin, Mr. H. C. Cooper, De Harlot —Overture (Ruy Blas), Mendelssohn. PART ll.—Symphony (Eroica), Beethoven—Aria, "Von Jugend auf in dem Kampfgetild" (Oberon), Herr Reichert, Weber — Overture (Abon Hassan), Weber. The removal of the scene of action from Exeter-hall to St. Martin's hall is a step in the right direction ; but we question whether the promoters will ever make these concerts answer as a commercial speculation, though it seems that two unsuccessful seasons have failed to bring them to this opinion. We have always felt that this project was set on foot upon false principles and without due consideration. The jealousy of a conductor, the exclusion of a candidate from the old society, or the ambition of young musicians, may of themselves be motives for endeavouring to accom plish a difficult undertaking ; but they can never render music popular which by its very nature 307 and incidents is not so, and inspire the general pub lic with the power to admire works of art the beauties of which can only be appreciated by those who are specially educated. Classical music, judiciously se lected, may be introduced into a general concert with great success as well as effect; but it is impossible in this country, or indeed in any other, to induce the million to attend, patiently and regularly, concerts of considerable length, where neither speech nor mo tion are permitted. Even if in theory the New Philharmonic Society could have succeeded, in prac tice they have done their best to bring about a failure. The chief defects of the old Philharmonic system, instead of being avoided, have been stu diously imitated. For example, the vocal music at the old Philharmonic has ever been a source of perpetual annoyance to the subscribers. Has the new society effected any improvement in this par ticular? None whatever. The selections have in variably been badly made; and of a surety such solo singers as Messrs. Reichert and Gregono can give no satisfaction to an educated audience. Again, the concerts are far too long—perfect monsters in mag nitude. Last Wednesday week, to wit, we were treated to three overtures, two concertos, and one symphony (three quarters of an hour in length), besides other pieces. This immense mass of enter tainment oppressed the senses of the hearers, and the feelings of pleasure which the earlier portion of the programme excited were, before its conclusion, positively dispelled by intense weariness. The instru mental portion of the concert was, on the whole, well executed. The band is very fine ; but, as regards stringed instruments, it is inferior to that of the old Philharmonic, and at times the braying of the "brass" concealed many of the beauties of the various scores. The selection from Bach's " Passions- Musik" was creditably gone through. We shall de fer our observations upon this work until after the forthcoming performance by the Bach Society at the Hanover-square Rooms. De Beriot's concerto was admirably played by Mr. Cooper ; and Miss Goddard, though exhibiting her usual defects of want of style and expression, executed Mozart's concerto—one of the most beautiful and interesting works ever written for the pianoforte—to the apparent satisfaction of the audience. M. Lindpaintner is a clever conductor, but there seems no chance of his igniting any of the waters of the British isles, either current or stagnant. Ifortign Cf, Xittraturt, ttr. MADAME Amu. BISHOP was attracting brilliant audiences at San Francisoo at the date of the last letters from California. BENEDETTO NEGRI, once a distinguished professor of singing, expired on the 24th ultimo, in his 71st year, being born at Turin on the sth of January, 1784. He was the favourite pupil of Bomfazio Asioli, and at the early age of twenty-two was ap pointed professor of the Conservatoire of Milan, on its foundation by Napoleon. A VERY IMPORTANT WORK, in which the welfare of Madrid is concerned, is the canal under construction for bringing water there from the Lozoya ltiver, twelve leagues off. Official persons who have lately inspected all the works in progress from their com - mencement at Ponton de Oliva to the great reservoir now constructing close to the Campo de Guardia/4 in the immediate neighbourhood of Madrid, state that, unless prevented by want of money, the whole may be concluded by August next year, and Madrid be plentifully supplied with water, of which there is now always a great scarcity in the summer months. There are 9,000 workmen employed at present along the whole line. The reservoir forming a little be yond the Campo de Guardias, which is the highest ground in the neighbourhood of the capital, will im pel the stream as high as the third story of every house, will contain water enough to supply all Madrid for twelve days, reckoning on a daily consumption of 130,000 teals of water—reals, i.e., not in value, but so many continuous streams, each equal in size to a silver real. A BOUQUET to be offered by the Horticultural So ciety of Toulouse to the Empress was exhibited there on Sunday at the Capitol in the Salle du Trone, where a vast crowd went to see it. Not less than 10,000 violets and 300 camelias have been employed in this gigantic bouquet, which is two and a half feet in diameter by three feet high. It is composed of a dome of violets surrounded by a circle of camelias, garlands of these last. running down the dome, on which are so be seen the initials of her Majesty in orange flower'. Tule Lombardi was given at the Athens Opera on the 4th ult., and the national hymn sung, under the plea of a benefit for the poor. The produce, how ever, went to those who were leaving to fight the Turks. The theatre was brilliantly illuminated, and very crowded ; the receipts were 8,000 drachmas. A committee, at the head of which were six of the prin cipal persons of the city, were stationed at the en trances. Invitations had been sent two days before hand to all the town. The King was received with - 11.""g11 _ I -