The Press. — London, England, 1853-12-31 00:00:00

should yield to the greater; and to the greater cede the use of his sign and of his counter sign. Practical must, artistically, succumb to mimetic " deportment." Oh! to how many sentences has Mr. Bunn succeeded in impart ing the highest tone in the hysterical gamut, and the most luscious of all the various sac charine smacks, by merely breaking off into " woman, lovely W0111141l," and then ambling down the well-known prose-nen-mad, toating alley, of "nature as it should be," and " irre sistibility" as it must be. Mr. Bunn is a great classical scholar; this must not. be hidden ; and "cam multis "Cesar aid tidal," with other nether new and startling hits, we guess, will be found in cer tain pages of theme volumes. Mr. linen': perceptions of the grave and the trivial are not very diserintinuting. At ',age. 53 of vol. 1, alluding to Bee Astor-pbeee riots of 1549, in which eighteen or nineteen human beings were killed, Mr. Bunn says " the best joke we heard upon the muldeet," &e. It is, surely, no questi4m Of jokes, best, or worst, or middling, but of deplorable ineidents. Nor is the joke a good joke in itself, when Mr. Bunn has told it. As a specimen of Mr. Ihum's mute serious manner (where he chooses to be serious) we will quote a really sensible and forcible pas sage from his preface:— A work we published some years since, entitled "The Stage both Before and Itchitsil the Curtain," obtained, we may Kay, without any nonsensical t%iiggi•r, a more Ilion ordinary success,-1111 event which led to its Is•iiig pirated in America, and published, ns soon as isissilile idler its publication in London. !laving enjoyet the eiliniesy of being plaissl, as a irie visitor, on the hooks of the New . York Society Library i 1111 l itsliately em pair arrival, in the first page of its catalogue We 1111141141 we f, Milli the slid work duly registered, us printed by Messrs. 1.4'11 and Ma chart, of l'liihulelphia, mill sold 1i a• them 3lr. A. Ilan. of the samelit.4., lit the charge of we believe— the price in this (sundry having been 11. I Is. ILI. This is putting your finger in smother inan's pie, to 4 pretty past purpose; for the maid cheap edition hail a rapid sale, is entirely out of prior, our eimlit we copy of it fur love or money. It nonst be apparent to any •MC that such a state of things as this ought mit to exist.; and th a t, as international mopyriglit treaties have been concluded upon and exchanged between England awl France, similar trea ties should at 64. he VS(4111114144 ht.l%..eas the only two comitries 4111 eltrth whose 111,11111t . e is the smote. The possbiet of some isien's brains 11111 y 1101. be suite, be woeih 1111101; but at all events it most Is• worth something, when people are no be tio 1111 l I a lio think it of sufficient import ance to filch it, and realise a plait out of what they I sotly have any kind of interest in, and certainly no right to. It is our duty to add that our readers might certainly Lind many much duller occupations for the requisite amount of time than in read ing this book of the renowned ex-manager. Biographic du Prince Adam C.:artoryxki. Par J. U. Nioneewicz. Lotitlres : lietkens. A CLEM:IX-WRITTEN lic'eolUlt of the life of Prince Adam CzarLayski, so far as it is consorted with the aspirations of l'oland for liberty during tho last sixty years, and the desperate sirw:gl4. in 114:10. These were the sacrifices Prince thou made in his court try's eause : " title imun uw 61111111 e, la ist,iti.e s,sisfe In plug i•levi.e, nnr aureole &jig haillalite de patriatisille et tle Ittsieise par ireelittele; sellieeS, Untie %Wiled Sit earn 41 ' pn•ralele mill* liliallikortallite de I ia.urreetiuu it uit ells eeluta, it mit tout ale eiote pair se ri nuir all 111011% e taunt mai 111 l al toil jugettil impossible ale 4.04.14.46 r." The author thus speaks of the attitude of England at that period : " Et elite Angletenv, naguere armee pair let defense el lc repos alit mouth.. cluilloieti tie Se implant-I-elle pas ilgoiste et illaprevoyante, alors iill'elle i tait gottvernee par ceux itat''!uies qui, petulant newt. ails, ete eke/. elle les apiltres ale hi justice et de lu liberte ! ' I a Polubase est imp elnignee ! ' " Our Foreign Minister then is our Prime Minister now. The Key to the Sabbath Question ; He, a Letter to Douglas Jf rrohl, Fsq., on Sabbath Observance. By a Biblical Economist. Edinburgh : Moodie. Tuts is a little tract written against the opening of Crystal Palaces, be., on Sundays, and, without de tailing its arguments, we may add that it is mode. rate, sensible, and a model of conside ate candour for the literary luminary to whoa► it is addressed. PIT I t LICAT lONS it 1.:('EIVE11). 77#4. English Poets Annotated. Bryant, Vul. I. lh B. Bell. J. 'IV. Calker and sun. .11Inbc1. ninon Warburton. T. C. Nouby. 11'A.'• ll'hu iN le:•4 ? C. H. Oaken, Bally Brothers. Butemon's s,ro.ou, Scelt• "R . I . kr.' ,4oo :so errotion. T. I Ibitt.m. W. Thacker and ('u. LoAapa on Jnreofile 1). timitaitev. 'SI. lIiII awl C. F. curioy ohs. smith, Elder. atthl Co. THE PRESS. A MO!lingua-44ra of Motne. By Profeseer Anderson. Praiser's. Magazine. .1. W. Parker and Son. Tait's Eolitehuryli Partridge and Oakey. Tire Faroe. ale. (Monthly.) Nu. I. • I u , :en far Ow %loam A Pahli.l.l. i. 1. It.itiwurth. • Cunipir i i ))) Circunicielion of Ckui d. A P4'1111011,4 T. }lardy. The Erangelkabi and the Edinburgh. A Pamphlet. Rev. N. Minton. Deighieu and Laughton. . . . l'imnnuat.tor Supplying the Suluorlui with ',nun , ..► t 1..• ClAnil h.e4 nut I:equirol in the t'ity. A Rev. E. 111114 e. Seeleys. One frunt fur I:oievia and l'orn.fur (hiP. lt•r+. A l'amplal. t. 11) Pawitietim. .1. M The Silver Penny. htulit.. NII'SI4'. .t Uulhld. It. Cot•ks. zle puma. THE absence of all matters of interest dining the last fortnight having rendered it necessary that we should till our dramatic columns, which we never like tAi leave in blank, with anticipations as to the huture, it, remains for us to notice shortly the various perform ances during the past week at the principal theatres, reserving to ourselves the right, on future occasions, to criticise at length the more important of these Christmas entertainments, for the pu►pose of cso►.i dering what their influence may be on the progress of the various branches of art in this country. Toys are the great attraction to children, and chit. dren, naturally enough, are the great attraction of the toys wide,' form subject-mutter for the Dittitv- LANK pantomime. It is entitled harlequin Hum ming-top, or the Land of Toys. There is an army— two aunties—of juveniles in the opening, disguised us tops and hats, who tight like heroes in mortal and laughable combat. There is a child's story-book in the pantomime proper, whose leaves bud forth with a series of bantlings, prettily dressed as Cin derella, Puss in -boots, and other diameters dear to the infantine mind. And there is a whole l'anto. mime family—Charn, Harlequin, Pantaloon, and Columbine—complete, but of the smallest dimensions, and imitating their bigger namesakes very winningly. Altogether the chiltimn carry oil the honours this Christmas in Drury Lane. The fun allotted to the full-sized performers is rather slow. The grown-up pantotnimists, inticed, seem approaching to years of discretion—awl what worse can he said of them ? The boxing-night audience Odiously kept up the charter for uproar; and the gallery-gods—emulous of the clients out of doors—snowed paper flakes thickly over the pit (luring the evening. The Christmas piece at the HAYMARKET is founded on the nursery tale of" Silverhair and the Three Bears." The mythological part is tar too tedious, but it intro &tees us to smile beautiful scenery, and the change from the ruined abbey to "Lotus Lake" is worth a spe vial visit. A novel feature amongst the dramatis per son►e is the versatility displayed by the ( Urn (Mr. Henry Marshall). Ile produces strong comic effects upon the violin, on which he is a most skilful per former, and his imitations of Mr. Robson (whose " plints" he burlesqued) greatly amused the au dience. The ludicrous caricature of the camp at. Cleobleam was excessively droll, with its carbineers upon donkeys, and a regiment of boy-grenadiers, in which every soldier was the merest " Little Tod dlekins. " The " Haunted Chamber" had also most successful incidents, with its ghost of the Clown lighting a " Coreican-Mothers" style of duel with the real Churn. lint this enjoyment of these and other capital " bits " is spoiled by the piece being protracted too long past the midnight hour. Fully one third of it should be omitted. We may add that. Miss Mary Brown made a very pleasing Ce/antbine. It need hardly be said that Mr. Platiche's burlesque, Once eepon a Time' there were Two Kings, at the I.v.•E vt,was completely successful, mil added another to his list of victories in the regions of burlesque. Yet the materials of which the present piece is composed are very slight, and atberd but few opportunites for the exercise of that happy wit and easy now of ele gant diction which aro the distinguishing character isties of the author's works. Possibly, however, he may not have judged it neeessnry to put forth all his strength when, as in the present instance, he is so ably supported by the genies of "spectacle," im personated by Mr. W. Beverley, whose new scenes rank among the happiest eft; Tts of the tend!, and are the chief attraction of the piece. In design, as w.ll as execution, Mr. Beverley displays an origin ality of thought, as well as a power over the material. which entitle him to take high position amongst the artists of the injustice day; and in our opinion it is the height of mjastice to consider a gentleman of so much ability a= a mere decorator, or to lose sight of the great merit of his works, because they are necessarily of so perishable a character. The last scene of the second act is a masterpiece of painting, arrangement, and pwspective and the concluding scene blinds the tit ectators with its magnificence, and impresses (bent did they have, indeed, been permit- SATURDAY, ted a glimpse of fairy land. The costumes, too, are excellently conceived and executed : a more happy idea was never suggested than that of attiring the personages of burlesque in that strange mixture of Roman armour and flowing periwigs in which our ancestors, at the beginning of the last century, de lighted to portray themselves—verily, we thought sir Cloudesley Moven had left his marble canopy in Westminster Abbey to figure on the boards of the Lyceum. The dances ure beautiful. In short, to our mind, Mr. Mathews' is the best Christmas entertainment we have yet seen. The Christmas piece at the Ancwit is called Number Nip, ur the Spirit bride. It is a dramatised version of one of the numerous legends of the Hartz mountains ; the scenes being laid in Germany and on the shores of the Mediterranean. It is supported by the talent of Madame Celeste, Mrs. Keeley, Miss Woolgar, and Mr. Paul Bedford, for whose abilities parts have been written. There is a very witty dialogue, especially where the author puts into the mouth of Mrs. Keeley some bard hits at " wife-beat ing" husbands ; but there is scarcely enough of hearty roaring fun in the incidents. The scenery and dresses are in a more highly-finished stye of picturesque illustration than has been customary at the Adelphi. The figure-dance of Madame Celeste, in which she portrays a Spanish bull fighter, recall some of her best efforts in the part of Miami in The Green Basle r. It would be an improvement to Number Nip if a more copious dialogue was given to the actors em ployed in it. The Of.vmric pantomime is:the work of Mr. Tom Taylor. The introduction is clever, the scenery very good, and the masks excellent, the best, indeed, we have seen for many years. It is with no small plea sure, moreover, to us old-fashioned folks to witness once mole a pantomime in which there is but little speaking. The barlequinade is poor, partly owing to the absence of novelty, partly caing to the in efficiency of time Harlequin, elen. and Pantaloon. We must, however, notice with infinite approbation the effiirts of the Columbine (Miss Wyndham ), whose expressive pantomime and graceful dancing will alone amply repay a visit to this theatre. The pantomime at the l'ittxcEss's is put upon the stage with great cam. The introduction is mousing, but there is too much speaking, and the inces sant falls and slaps interfere touch with what fi,llows. No expense has been spared to render the harle (minute as effective as possible. Mr. Kean hal re imported from the Porte St. Martin at Paris'la clever trick of furnishing at a moment's notice an un furnished apartment, originally, we believe, invented by Mr. Bradwell at Covent Garden some years ago. Many of the comic scenes are very well connived, and, if they be found dull and heavy, it is attributable to the barrenness of the Clown (who is nothing but a clever tumbler), rather than to any want of energy on the part of the manager. We humbly beg Mr. ()scar Byrne's pardon for having last week sus pected him of an intention to reproduce a hackneyed subject. The portion of the pantomime committed to his charge does him infinite credit. The evolutions of the children who represent the Coldstream Guards are perfectly marvellous to behold,—in short, the counterfeit presentment of the camp at Chobham is by far the best part of the Christmas entertain ment at this theatre. The scenery, by Messrs. Gordon, Cuthbert, and Sanders, is sadly indifferent. It is a matter of surprise to us to find that the management retrogrades rather than progresses in this department. Christmas at the STRAND also is enlivened by a child's pantomime, Harlequin Nutcracker. or the World of Toys, whose author is Planate, and whose moral is sanitary. Mr. Flexmore, that most audacious of tumblers, takes the part of Clown, and, though the limited stage somewhat circumscribes his agility, capers and frisks to the infinite wonder of the au dience. During his late visit to I'aris he seems to have put more mercury into his heels and more indiarubber into his joints than ever. Vontg fatlitt anb it ilttiligtna. FRIDAY EVEN INO. THE funds have been very heavy during the week, and large sales of Three-and•a-quarter per Cents. and Three per Cents. Reduced have taken place. The consequent demand for money in the Stock Exchange has been very great, and the rate on Government securities is 4to 4& per cent. Gradually the large Rear account is being supplied, and, in the event of politics taking a decidedly unfavourable turn, Ise should not be surprised to see Consols fall consider ably below 1)0. The public have been so accustomed to see political differences overcome by diplomacy, that they hope