The Press. — London, England, 1853-12-10 00:00:00

DECEMBER 10, 1853. clever. Here is a favourable specimen of the auther*.: style of description : . . 11 There is something joyous in tit+. appearanee of Ill,• street++ of Loudon on a Christmas eve. espt•eiallc if it is a sharp, clear, frosty night. The foot passengers harry along with quick feet-warraing stride.: ottutibuses.eabs. and tatter vehicles, run menily sour the kkkkk The shops are unusually brilliant. The jets of gas shine with stint ititit.,l brizlitness, mill seem to throw a stis•aiger liAt than on ordinary occasions on the articles arranged ill Illy *inflow .. Heaps of plums and other foreign fruit are temptingly displayed at the' groeers, .te., th►e iiiteriors of whose shops present scones of inileseriliable eonfitsion : assistants fly and rush about with reckless impetuosity mill try their ut• most to satisfy the 11111111 . 111414 :silts sif their c ustomers. The poultems a►•a in the greatest have ; their shops 814. dense masses of geese, Bowl , an d turkey. around utsidi sausages itt it ehaiity e►ubrace and laight•eolotireil ribbons stock with their thiaming streamers the pallid hues of the devoted birds." Round Ga mot for all Parties. London : Bogue. Tuts book of 101 pages, prettily bound in blue and gold, describes the manner in which numerous games, such as forfeits, acting charades, ke., are played. The illustrations, twelA e in number, the figures in the Queen Anne costume, are well done. As the games are numerous and varied, each will find something suited to his taste. Rockingham; or, the lounger Brother. ll• the Author of "Electra.•• ( Midway Library.) Lon don: Routledge and eo. THE recognised merit, of this attractive fiction en titled it to repuhli cuUon .n a cheap form, and the melancholy mysterious interest of its story is thus happily revived for the author's reputatitat. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. The Landau Quarterly Eeriest.. For Decentker. Nil. I L Londint : Partridge, Oakey, and co. Nt: 11. of this Review fairly maintains the high character which we were able to give to its predeces sor. Its article% are throughout distinguished for thought, sincerity, and research. The writers are evidently able men, who address themselves to their literary task with a due sense of its responsibilities, and present their readers with its results in the shape of reasonings well weighed, informa tion carefully tested and arranged, and a style at once earnest, grave, and per:weave. Never forgetting the especial object which the &Hem is designed to promote, and the class to whom it is addressed, the conductors have hue,' careful to infuse ample variety into the topics discussed, and to in clude in the contents of this number several papers well calculated to interest the general reader. Among these we must assign the principal Ogee to an article upon "Autobiography." The author commences with some judicious comments npon the place held as a class by writers of autobiographies, and the characteristics which contribute to excellence in that department of literary art. He then introduces us, by remarks and examples, to various types of dif ferent species of auti)biogruphieal composition, from l'epys to Lamartine. The whole paper is strikingly written and full of interest. We wonder only that, in an article of so much ability, no men tion should be mule of the most envious as well as the most recent work of the class which our liters taro contains—" The Autobiography of Haydon." Church of Scotland Magazine. London : Arthur Hall, Virtue, and C.,. THIN, the eighth number, contains a g0.,41 selection of ten articles, together with notices ~f books, an t i ecelesiastieal intelligence. some amu s ing ex t rac t s are given in a review of the life of I). M. Makgill Crichton, of whom it is related as a wonder, that be tween a quarter.past five and half past ten in the morning he killed twenty six brace and a half of partridges and two hares, and the following is the manner in which he pursued the sport : " His method was to run at the heels of his slogs—n baan most exhausting. and such as would, from th e h im ' breathing it occasioned. disturb the aitn of most spotts. men but at this puriisl, so great was the strength of lung which he enjo)ed, that even under this violent exertion the heaving of the chest was scarcely perceptible," Denney'', Monthly Rerietc. For December. London Piper and Co. BEYOND mentioning that it contains a clever. it' not altogether a just, notice of Sir Edward Lytton. we have no space to enter into particulars of this little miscellany of criticism and fiction, but its to lent is remarkable in comparison with its low price, and we shall watch its progress with interest. Lite and Adrentureit of Dick I►ininy the Jockey. By Priam. Tim (1011 : Vick ers. " PRIAM " has hit upon a capital sel'it et, nnil is treat ing it capitally. The life of a jeckey is full of THE PRESS. oddities—odil scenes, Ixtd characters, .sl4l eoutrasts, and odd tricks. Perhaps the oddest thing of n il iu the present tale is the jockey himself. whit, if we prognOstiCale rightly, will turn out 11111 holiv4 one. The story opens with mud% spirit, and, considering the subject and the agents, with less coarseness than might have been anticipated. NEW MUSIC. The Belle of the Dull WitlL,x. 11 Thorpe. London : D'Altimitte and Co. 'fill' collection of waltzes consist' of ham with a t7041a. All of them inetit praise from their graceful arrangement ; but the third and fourth aro very animated. and show much talent. which may be also Milli of the eoinpOSitiOn Of the coils. The nace and Haat Gala)►. lty E. C. Thu►pu.. London : D'Alnutine and Co. .t galop, almost approaching a march ill composition. It Will require to 1v well pl:tc4l to do jtistiec to 3lr. Thorpe. The Ihibitortil Quadri Hy 0.11. E. Hodges, London : Cocks and Co. A smarm) set of quadrilles, emir itved on well.known Scotch airs. The second, " rgeldie," arranged in )•: major, and the fourth, " Bullock al Mune," in I► nukior, aro %vell-studied compositions. The whole are written with the composer's usual I hare Loved Thee. Sonnet. By I !harks Sidman. London: Addison and Miller. SATAUAN has again gitw► his ►uhnirerx a goo4l ~.ti;. Both wonls and melody are pleasing. It is written iu I► major, simple triple tam►. In some parts the nil ompaninwnt a 4 a little tor► impassion►tl. PUIIILICATIONS IIEcEIVEM Ili. lio/ibillMerto . t. Pot iietil Inoikg. i 10111111111 stii.l Hall. Lifi. in .4lao..inia. Nlankliel.l horkpw. J. Mummy. Jessir'g I 'oriniry 1.i1 . ... J. Altirruv. The II ',lke, bp.. J. I . s n a g. Chat 1111 l in awl Ilmil. The I.lre al a lbw. lac, .e. .1. M ills. 140 14 , 1, in Itlllia (MI at Holm . .% pitiiii.l.l.l. W.I I. Hilda. ... .. .. t:11%, inderi 1 . 110110411 y !Mota 1 . 111110110 ~I,pe . . A t histphlet. W. I The hoot. mtool We tittle oy .1. Itaiggs. Bo itiooh ihowisas , I. The Shoot itt the L'ue. W. Wel.bee. •r. P'eott. T. S.M. I i. r 11%..). _ __. ........... The t'anaolearial 1, I oltrietcr . '.V F. Simetilion. 11. 1;..,1. 1 . ....r0wati tttt $ an t lee I 'hos of ..`. m ire. 'l'. llarri.oi. tiallwrino from. the lit,ir• mat.l4 if 1,4•10(Ictl. l'inuphlais, &v. 1;..N. Willker. 1.. it.. llliti 10. ""• - . . Ml'~lt'. Single and ilonble 1 '14.11415. .1. 'I orb.. lac Inima. .1. A. Nine n. 11AYMARKE1"niEATEE. Tut: plot of The Ilope of the Family, produced at this theatre on Saturday last, Innis upon the follow ing incidents :—A certain ',unmet proceeding to India consigns his only son to the charge or attorney and a schoolmaster of the ll'uekl',•rd S►lurers genus. The neglect and cruelty of these inilhilluids come the sun to abscond. and all trace of him to be lost. The baronet, relenting a wealthy man, demands his son, and the consignees, being unable to pr►slnce their charge, endeavour to provide a substitute in the shape of Joe Wadd (Mr. Bitekstone). Through the agency of Jae, who is a virtuous omnibus end, the guilty are confounded, the lovers muse happy, and everything brought to a satisfactory elincluNiol. This play is, in fail, an iuditferent eonicily of the Morton or Colman school reduced into three acts. The list of the draw. pers. will he found to contain many of the elements of the del:fated British drama. Thus we have a lost child, a 11111/011 fruit► India, a ;sayer exhibiting the usual stage incaution and ignorance of his profexsion, a true-hearted British sailor, a virtuous maid•of-all-work, and last, lint not least. " an honest lad "—a character which, in tine hands of Knight, Munden, or Emery the elder, would have I.erhaps become a national raVOlllile. The re semblance to the ancient style of play-writing is made morc strong by the existent* of an underplot, relating to a scheming housekeeper and her daughter of dubious character, which is as distinct the Main events as the most ardent dramatie legitimist could desire ; iudeeul, in this respect it quite rivals Mr. Pats celebrated tragedy The Spaniel( Armada. The author's redeeming point is the care aid, %Inch the dialogue is written, but this merit is not sufficient of itself to sustain an interest which is exhausted in the first MA, 81141 the audience seemed in consequence heartily tired before the two hours and a half which the representation occupies had elapsed. The prin cipal burden of the acting falls upon the attorney Duebredr ), whose representative. Mr. I liippendule, discharges his part respectably. Nlr. Compton emiets the schoolmaster, who is, we belie % e. meant I. ar a vomit. character, and " washes young gentlemen in the luin ciplesofthe Protestant religion. - Mr. linchst.ine. as 763 the honest lad .lot'," ruins d his part by the most wanton butfooisery. It bi !Milani to geigl e ni l ui of his standing ill tilt' 101.44 , w-ion estuleav owing to make a hit by the exhibition of u nimbly back and a Whitt' Ilt`ektotil two feet long, and wide ill propor tion. This play s.erveil to introduce to the London piddle Ellen tinny, a lady from Man• chester; she waa painfully nervous, Alla very ill dressed, but what little alio did impressed us rather favourably. The costumes of all the charac ters, with this rarrption of the Nisbet) t :11r. Rogers), are very bad ; but the %CCM' of a drawing room in which the action of the Seeltllll mist third acts is laid ileservi's 1 . 1 1 111111111111.%1. It would Ile as well that the eitatilms of civilised aociety should b' followed on the stage when their non-observance is productive of sits advantage hl the general Thits, having livery scrvasita in our employ, we %null( not, 14% Mr. Diwkicede ilisea in this platy, allow sr to be ass nositiceil by a maid of all work, whose service,' at %nal 14 41111111t414 4111141111, wetlntigilles be MIT/ . 111141611- taget)iNly employed in the kitchen or scullery than in the ilrawing-masts. .4ny Fort in a Storni, the centrebit of Mei, day night's etitertaisitlielit, signally failed in iiri'- liug into the - 11 e%••111 1101 10 be. wondered at, 11011' 11a4 eOl//edy 01 of The Hope of the Family hail pre • %howdy crushed all hopes or indulgin g i n l ikt i g l i t i ... The e 111114.1'd of the 111 , 4 &seri 1161111 I f foreign material, bore the tionictirlature of a 11 . 1 an rent (or French putt), not t least with reference to improting the managerial finances. .11i empty house and oysterxliells tom the groundwork of the plot,—ominous anticipation of the future midis of the piece and probable remu neration of the author. Two young milliners, eh: - gitised, as they inform the audience, as debberdeesys, hurry from It masked ball and take refitge in the de. sterU'd kitchen, find slipper, mail themselves of it. bailahas terrified n young Spaniard with a Tartan -.earl', who fellows the) I Meg IlieW A pelice • man brings in the mule, who has frightened the milli ners—stiother polieeman has taken the bailiff for ceueimitting some offence, of which the audience ale it;nor: itittil the diameters omir feet-w i led and ac. knowledge they have 1111 Meted W rongly and were highly culpable—an opinion in which all before the velleitt appeared cordially to concur. Thus termi meted a tissue of folly, exciting only one feeling, regret--'iz., that Miss Featherstone and her com panion, 'Aliss I frnionele, should have lweti furnish. at with stitch material and eenittnne : if struggling against the dulness of an tulamused house collet have commanded the m 1114.0001 of the piece, their oin• flagging efforts must have secured it; hut Any Poe t in a Starts will, we trust, he no longer a proverb at the 1 1 aymarket. It is a pet theory of ours that no man can etreetn• ally criticise a play until he has seen it twice. A 14econd sight and hearing of .4 I'rruy l'i•Te Moil - mom has brought us to the folloaing I.l,iirlii.ions : First, that the faiTO is a e ery good one, well eon. structed, anti smartly written. Secondly, a n t Iteynolds's acting is quite admirable; and that to her natural, ladylike, and charming impersonation the heroine, the , author ionl the manager are entirely unit hied for the 5111•14 • of the moan. mend all our 1 rllllO4 w ho have not seen it to "mule it their bt•iness" to do so. Asotitrit Adelphi bit—" one of the sights of the season," ride 7'imea. " 1:1111114.111111111. o f Mine. Celeste and Mr. Webster in a gland new melodrama of iteenliar interest, with sot is Anti Hit effects." These sorels at the head of the playbill induced us early in the week to visit this the real bonne of th e romantic drains in Eitel:m.l. %%r. spet 'lily rev, i g 'timed in The 'Thirst of Buhl; sir, Mr I . usf Ship m a the Wild Flower of .11r.rirt), a it Sill , IN Ilion I.) 1.,„ Prier,. dra Nowfroyes, a , 'emus flint. 1111•14 411511:Ill which ham lately bed it pi at mu at 1114! A 111104411 COMillne in l'aris. /1 the plot suffice to say that Mr. Webster personates sits adventurer whose thirst for gold induces ION, by corrupting the stew, to gain possession of a AIM, uud to LW 11 adritl 1111. 4111tair , him wife, and daughter to the merry of the ice and the waves. The daughter only survives, soul after the lapse of fifteen years she reappears, and is the means of bringing the murderer of her father awl mother to justice. This pie'se undoubtedly roman .4 a militia' interest, and is well suited to the tastes and capacities of an Adelphi mullein..., the ll t 1111 l perhaps, as it employ,' powerful auxiliaries in the shape of ieebergs, combats, and timeline.; Mill it is rendered very tedious I.y its isitiblerable length I Olive Iststits and lot ty 11611116's 5, and at its terniiiintisas for 141WirtilisSrp. were 1.04. burin wearied even to applaud. After ell. the Chia Ittilltei ill') is the seenery, whit+, considering the •inullia ss of the stage, is VI ethtable to the management. The breaking up 1.1 the ice in the second art is said 61 INP Very effective, and a clever bit of nicelsaiii , m, ti gli fir our part we were ~„ bli n d e d and (-linked with dust dint we could so e nothing. Mr. Wtle.ter gives a Vet) good impersona tion of the hero, and in the liiNt scene, he portravo