The Press. — London, England, 1858-01-09 00:00:00

street. As works of art they are both excellent, and a s portraits they are accurate. The engraving of General Havelock is taken from a picture painted some years since ; but it is a striking likenebs. There is in it that expression of calm confidence, which the habitual approbation of an upright mind ever confers. It speaks to us of that mild but firm discipline which won for him the love of his soldiers, and of that determined valour which has attached im perishable glories to his name. The portrait of Nicholson is equally striking. It is a thoroughly English face, in which high courage, extreme good humour, and great determination are agreeably blended. From such a face every one would predicate a character which would make opportunities and per• form such deeds as won for Nicholson among Orientals that brief but expressive title, " The Lion of the Punjaub." The moment for the publication of these engravings is happily chosen, for there are few amon g us :who will not wish to preserve some memento of men who have conferred such lustre on their country. We trust that the series will be con• tinued—we fear it may have to be extended. ARCHITECTURAL EXHIBITION.—The Architectural Exhibition in Suffolk-street, Pall-mall East, has opened to the public for the season. The exhibition is decidedly an improvement over those of previous years. A large portion of the walls is occupied with drawings and designs for competition for public works, among which ther3 are fifty-four drawings of the competition for the Government offices, and thirty-six for the memorial church at Constantinople, exception having been math), in favour of the designs for those works, to the general rule that none before exhibited in London are admissible. There are also designs, smaller in number and in size, sent in for competition for the Blackburn In firmary, for the Ulster Bank at Belfast, for Bowden Church, for Islington Vestry-hall, for the Crimean and Brotherton memorials, for Brighton Pavilion alterations, and for Lille Cathedral. Among the general designs exhibited there are comparatively few for dwelling houses, and in no instance is the cost of erection attached to such designs. One of the principal novelties in architectural design and construction is an iron corrugated and cellular church, designed by Mr. Digby Wyatt, and built by Messrs. Tupper and Co., by order of the East India Company, for exportation to Rangoon. A series of seven studies in Magna Grecia, by Mr. F. P. Cockerell, were much admired. The selection of sketches by the class of design in the Architectural Association is highly creditable, and will show to what practical purposes the studies of rising artists are directed. The present exhibition contains 453 subjects, exclusive of the patents and inventions, &c., connected with the building, of which there are several. THE ARCEHTECTTJRAL PHOTOGRAPHIC/ ASSOCIA TION.--The first conversazione of this excellent society was held on Thursday evening, at the galleries in Suffolk-street, Fall -mall East, and was very numerously attended. The chair was taken by Mr. Cockerell, R.A., who observed that, although the association had been only ten months in existence, it already numbered as many as 750 subscribers, and it was probable that, in the course of the present year, the list would be greatly extended. The association bad now collected 360 subjects, taken from Greece, Constantinople, Malta, Italy, Spain, France, and England, and the committee hoped tbat in another year they would be enabled to extend their travels into Egypt, Syria, Asia, and many other countries, so that they might have in their portfolios, iu the course of a year or two, as faithful pictures as it was possible to produce of all the most interesting buildings in the world : There was no practical mode whereby they could become possessed of the beauties of architecture in foreign parts except through .tbe instrumentality of the photograph, which gave not only light, shade, and furm, but all surrounding objects and minute accessories with unerring fidelity. By this means they would obtain a perfect history of architecture from the earliest times to our own days, and they would be able to compare all varieties of styles and effects. No doubt the photo graph had its defects as well as its merits, and the time might come when, as a pictorial art, it would sink in their estimation ; but as an auxiliary of art it was invaluable, and never would it fail in its efficiency to reproduce facts with that absolute accuracy so essential to the artist. The happy idea of establishing an Architectural Photo graphic Association had not, he grieved to say, originated with him. The honour belonged to Mi. Robert Hesketh, their honorary secretary, who was best entitled to preside that evening. He was, so to speak, sole proprietor of the notion, and it was to him that the merit also belonged of having carried it to a successful issue. In conclusion, Mr. Cockerell explained that the subscribers would be entitled to select their own photographs ; and, that they might be the better enabled to do so, he invited them to examine care fully the works then on view. The photographs are chiefly illustrative of ecclesiastical architecture. They are extremely beautiful, and attract admira tion, not only by their minute fidelity, but also by THE PRESS, JA.NVARY 9,1858. their brilliancy of light, and their depth and richness of shade. The Florentine views, in particular, from the cameras of Alvari Brothers, have a clearness, a mellowness, and a lucidity which bear vivid testimony to the unclouded splendour of the Italian sky. The French photographs, by Bisson freres, of Paris, and the English by Mr. Fenton, are also highly merito rious. The exhibition opened to the public yester day till February 24th inclusive. THE ROYAL. Ittsmurrox.—Professor Faraday has continued his series of Christmas lectures during the week. On each occasion the room has been crowded by a brilliant and fashionable audience. DEATH OF MLLE. RACHEL. Mu.E. RACHEL died at her villa near Cannes, on Sunday night last, at eleven o'clock. Mlle. Rachel was born in March, 1820, at the little Swiss village of Munf, during one of the professional tours of her parents, who were Jew hawkers, named Felix, gaining a livelihood by periodically visiting various towns in Germany and Switzerland. The family at last settled in Lyons, and in 1830 came to reside in Paris. Sarah, the eldest girl, was accustomed to sing at the various cafes to the accompaniment of an old guitar, while little Rachel went from table to table collecting the offerings of the kindly disposed. It is said that on one of these occasions the little wanderers at tracted the notice of M. Choron, the founder of the Institution for the Study of Sacred Music, and he made arrangements for admitting them among his pupils, taking charge more particularly of Rachel. After a short experiment, however, he found that the voice of the young girl was better suited for declamatory expression than for music, and he trans ferred her as a pupil to M. St Aulaire, who enjoyed at the time a high reputation as a dramatic instruc tor. For four years that gentleman unweariedly pursued his task, and laboured incessantly to implant in the mind of his pupil a true conception of the highest classical characters, such as Hermoine, Iphigenie, and PhZdre ; she at the time infinitely preferring the Dorines, Lisettes, and Philamintes of Moliere. In the course of time her performance in Andromague, at a private representation, was con sidered by some theatrical dignitaries so admirable that by their good offices she was admitted to the Conservatoire, and in October, 1838, joined the class conducted by Michelot. In April, 1837, she made her first appearance in public at the Gymnase, when she played in a piece called La Vendienne. Her performance, not exactly a fiasco, was far from being a success. But it is from her performance of Camille at the Theatre Francais, on the 24th of June, 1838, that her Euro pean reputation is to be dated, and to the end this character has remained the most celebrated in her repertory. A series of characters, esteemed of the highest rank by the critics and annalists of the old French repertory, followed immediately upon Camille, and before the season of 1838 was ended Rachel had attained a reputation rarely gained upon the modern stage. Notwithstanding the value of tradition, the classical tragedy, which during the last century was regarded as a national glory, has now but slight hold on the French mind, Nave when it becomes a vehicle for the display of an exceptional talent. Such a talent was found in Mlle. Rachel, and the old tragedies remained on the French stage as her exclusive property. New plays were, indeed, written with the view to illustration by her genius, and perhaps the Adrienne Lecouvreur of M. Scribe was the work in which sbe proved most attractive. Nevertheless her impersonations of the old classical characters will retain the longest hold on the memory, and that wondrous combination of the highest finish with every appearance of a thorough abandonment to the passion of the moment will for years be looked upon as a marvel to which few artists could offer even a proximate comparison. In 1840 Mlle. Rachel made her first appearance in London, and at Her Majesty's Theatre. Her genius was at once recognised, and she attained a permanent position in public favour from which she never descended. At St. James's Theatre, her ap pearance every year was hailed with delight. Her unrivalled enunciation taught us that the stately verses of Corneille and Racine may be delivered without monotony, while her acting, always graceful, easy, natural, and marvellously classic, though in proper places deeply impassioned, captivated even those who did not understand a word of her lan guage. Mlle. Rachel, in the course of time, ex tended her repertoire by the representation of parts in modern works, and attracted crowded audiences by her performance in Milt. de Belle Isle, Adrienne Lecouvreur, Louise de Lignerolles, Lady Tartuffe, &c. Up to her very last season she continued to study regularly, and a strong proof of her progress was to be found in the successive changes and very decided improvements which took place in her enact ment of the part of Phidre, always, no doubt, a great performance, but in latter years beyond comparison a finer and more finished representation than it was ll,___ when first attempted. So brilliant a career upon the stage was not without material advantages. Mlle. Rachel in a few years realised an enormous fortune, and, to her honour be it said, she provided mag nificently for her parents and relations. In Paris she herself lived in exquisite luxury. Andersen in his " Story of My Life " gives the following pleasant personal reminiscence of Rachel at home:— At her house everything is rich and magnificent, per haps too recherché. The innermost room was blue green, with shaded lamps and statuettes of French authors. In the salon, properly speaking, the colour which prevailed principally in the carpets, curtains, and bookcases was crimson. She herself was dressed in black, probably as she is represented in the well-known English steel engraving of her. Her guests consisted of gentlemen, for the greater part artists and men of learn• ing. I also heard a few titles among them. Richly apparelled servants announced the names of the ar rivals. Tea was drunk and refreshments handed round, more in the German than the French style. Victor Hugo bad told me that he found that she understood the Ger man language. I asked her, and she replied in German, " lch kann es lesen ; ich bin ja in Lothringen geboren; ich babe deutsche Bucher, sehn Sie bier !" t T can read it; I was born in Lorraine. I have German books : look here) ; and she showed me Grillparzer's Sappho, and then immediately continued the conversation in French. She expressed her pleasure in acting the part of Sappho, and then spoke of Schiller 's Maria Stuart, which character she has personated in a French version of that play. I saw her in this part, anl she gave the last act especially with such * composure and tragic feeling that she might have become one of the best of German actresses ; but it was precisely in this very act that the French liked her least. "My countrymen," said she, " are not accustomed to this manner, and in this manner alone can the part be given. No one should be raving when the heart is almost broken with sorrow, and when he is about to take an everlasting farewell of his friends." Her drawing-room was for the most part decorated with books, which were splendidly bound, and arranged in handsome bookcases behind glass. A painting hung on the wall, which repre sented the interior of the theatre in London, where she stood forward on the stage, and flowers and garlands were thrown to her across the orchestra. Below this picture hung a pretty little bookshelf, holding what I call " the high nobility among the poets "--Goethe, Schiller, Cal deron, Shakespeare, &c. She asked me many questions respecting Germany and Denmark, art and the theatre ; and she encouraged me with a kind smile around her grave month when I stumbled in French, and stopped for a moment to collect myself, that I might not stick quite fast. " Only speak," said she. "It is true that you do not speak French well—l have heard many foreigners speak my native language better—but their con versation has not been nearly as interesting as yours. understand the sense of your words perfectly, and that is the principal thing which interests me in you." From this life she has been prematurely snatched. Never of a strong constitution, Mlle. Rachel gradually found the arduous labour of her profession to affect her health, and at last to lead to the illness which has now cut off this great actress in the thirty-seventh year of her age. Her place will not be easily supplied in Paris. Her loss will be felt throughout Europe. Nom Sarket Rub tztg Intrilignut. FRIDAY' EVENING. THE return of the Bank of England for the week ending Wednesday last, the Bth inst., being the first for the year 1858, shows the following changes com pared with that for the week preceding : Increase in Circulation Decrease in Public Deposits Decrease in Other Deposits 227,094 Increase in Government Securities 223,818 Decrease in Other Securities 1,638,749 Increase in Bullion Increase in Rest 47,297 Increase in Reserve 1,004;797 Bullion in both Departments .... 12,643,193 Circulation, including Bank Post Bills ' 20,319,02.5 The great additions to the stock of Bullion and to the Reserve of notes place the Bank in a highly favourable position, the more especially as the Private Securities will continue to run off and larply add to its available resources. The Bullion next week will exceed 13,000,0001., but the Reserve will be temporarily diminished by the dispersion of the dividends, the payment of which commenced this morning. Still both are at a point that, under ordi nary circumstances, would justify the adoption of a comparatively low rate of discount. Most of the changes shown in the comparison are important, but the chief interest of the return lays in the Bullion, the Reserve, and the Private Securities, all of which are every day becoming more satisfactory. The Public Deposits show a slight decrease arising from the payment of salaries, and the Private Deposits are lower because bankers and others have been taking out their money to buy Consols and Exchequer Bills. Heavy arrivals of specie have been reported during the week. They amount to about 500,0001., and about 900,000/. Australian gold is now en route to this country. The Bank of England has absorbed -~-