The Press. — London, England, 1853-08-06 00:00:00

AUGUST 6, 1853. Wallachia and Moldavia. By M. Bratiano. Man. chester: Ireland and Co. Tins pamphlet contains the views of M. Bratiano on the Eastern question, as expounded by him in two letters addressed to Lord Dudley Stuart. Antici pating great danger to the Danubian principalities, M. Bratiano describes the policy of Russia to consist in laying siege to Turkey, by " creeping nearer to it every day. in order to dismantle it little by little, and to seize the strongholds that serve it as ramparts." The readers of the Preu will find nothing novel in the opinions put forward by M. Bratiano; but it is only fair to add, that the correspondence with Lord Dudley Stuart took place four months since. The Family Treasury. No. 9. London : Houlston and Stoneman. Tins newly-started magazine belongs to the domestic order. In the present number tales " fit for use in families," receipts, charades, suggestions, informa tion, facts, and fun for ditto, are accompanied by woodcuts illustrating some wonderful works in " crochet," or depicting the Brobdignag beauties of the Cochin China poultry. The miscellany aspires to no literary rank, but its contents are sufficiently abun dant, varied, and cheap. BOOKS RECEIVED SINCE OUR LAST PUBLICATION. Lives of the Poets Laureates. W. S. Austin, 8.A., and J. Ralph, M.A. R. Bentley. Ponsomby. J. Whittaker. History of Louie IVY!. A. de Beauchesne. Vizetelly and Co. Shalessperian Criticisms. J. 0. Halliwell, F.R.S. J. it. Smith. The Herb of the Field. J. and C. Mozley. Educational Expositor. August Longman, Brown, and Co. Diorites. Part VII. J. Bennett. The Family Treasury. August. Arthur Hall, Virtue, and Co. int pay. GERMAN PLAYS. MOLIERE, it is recorded, once declared, on the strength of his managerial experience, that the hardest body in the world to manage was a company of players. This declaration acquires new force if it is applied to a company of German players in particular. In every civilised country in Christendom there is some metropolis at which histrionic questions of pre cedence obtain something like a definitive settlement. There are seldom two stars of precisely the same magnitude in precisely the same town, while in any one town there is the same public to decide which of any two given luminaries is the biggest. If we ask for the chief of French tragedy, Paris instantly points to Mlle. Rachel; if we inquire for the best English legitimate low comedian, Keeley, probably, has a majority of London votes in his favour ; and so on through all the various departments of acting. The provincial towns bow to the decision of t`le metropolis ; and we have only to learn bow an actor is valued in the capital of his own country to obtain a guide which, though not infallible, will, in nine cases out of ten, prove correct. But that tract of land which is named " Germany" comprises many countries. Each of these countries has its chief town, and each of these chief towns seems to have its chief actor. This would occasion no difficulty if a whole company of German actors came from any one town, but as it is we are forced, when we are to have the luxury of a German play, to lay various districts under contribution for a due supply of histrionic talent. A company of all the talents" is obtained, but when this machine, each wheel of which is so precious, has to be set in motion, incalculable obstacles arise. Who is the rightful chief of the association ? The Othello of Berlin thinks he is as distinguished as a man as the Hamlet of Dresden, and the lago of Cassel surveys them both with a strong feeling of equality. Each comes armed with the votes of his own public, and each, probably, has a distinguished literary friend in his own town, who records his praises in sober prose, or sings them in inspired verse. We strongly suspect that certain unaccountable phenomena which have appeared in playbills of the present season have been owing to the want of a really preponderating power. Certain pieces could never have been put up, under a ,judi cious monarch, who had an eye to the general welfare ; and we could constantly detect the rule of a sort of oligarchical republic, in which the supremacy was ever wandering from one individual to another. On the whole we are surp ised that the German performances have turned out so well as they have. The mistakes that were made at the beginning of the short season seem to have roused the members to something like a feeling for the general good; and as July advanced, and the chances of an audience be came less and less, the energies of the company went on increasing. Who wanted to see The Taming of the Shrew in an English dress? Who wanted to see El Deaden contra el deaden done from Spanish into German, and consequently the type of nothing? Who wanted to see Preciosa played without efficient musical appurtenances ? Even Egmont had been pretty well used up last year, and was certainly not the best chosen piece to inaugurate th 6 season of 1853. Wilhelm Tell, on the other hand, was just the sort of drama required, and gave signs of an im- THE PRESS. provement which died away, until the last week of all blazed up with the production of Fiesco and Die Braut von Messina. This last play was, we think, the cheld'eurre of the season—most imposing as an uncommon spec tacle, and played with the best distribution of talent. Strange to say, the Germans feared it would be heavy, and therefore deferred its production as long as they could. The play, written on the Greek model, is a play of mere declamation ; and the public they thought would get tired of the long speeches. But mere declamation is just the thing in which the Germans excel, and therefore the piece in question is exactly suited to their talent. We have seen many artists whose power of impersonation we should place far higher than that of Herr Devrient, but we do not know where we should find a better elocutionist. Metrical language from his lips has a charm totally irrespective of the sentiments it conveys ; and the same, though in a less degree, might be said of all the actors iu the Braut von Messina. Heaviness should not be a bugbear with German performers in this country. No one, they may rely upon it, goes to see their doings as a mere amusement ; but their audience are a staid, sober set, who come to sit through works because they are classical, and because they occupy an important place in German literature. In a word, the English readers of German are the support of the German theatre. But would not some light, amusing play suit the German residents in this large metropolis, who, without caring so much for classicality, could relish a joke conveyed in their own vernacular? Alas! alas ! The German residents in London, though they are many and rich, do nothing whatever to en courage the enterprise of Mr. Mitchell in endeavour ing to find an English home for their histrionic compatriots. Of this neglect, we understand, the German actors bitterly complain, and we can per fectly sympathise with their complaint. Two years ago, such a thing as a play of Gothe or Schiller, acted in the original language, was utterly unknow.i in England. The German residents cannot, there fore, be so very much surfeited with the productions of their own dramatic poets ; and certainly—without flying into raptures —we can affirm that all the German chef-d•mtrres have been played quite well enough to constitute an agreeable and intellectual entertainment. But nationality seems out of the question now-a-days, and Mr. Cobden himself could not surpass the German merchants in that philoso phical indifference to the land of his birth of which he is so distinguished a professor. tortign Xitang an Artistic fassip. THE NEW OPERA of the reigning Duke of Saxe Coburg, which its royal author has entitled Tony, will be performed on September 15th at Hanover, and on September 21st at Munich and at the Court Theatre of Berlin. THE Da.turric EVENT of the week has been the se cession of Mme. Ugalde from the Opera Comique to the Varietes. It is stated that Mme. Ugalde, who received from the director of the Opera Comique the net yearly sum of 30,000 f., wanted to establish be tween her and her young ival, Mlle. Caroline Duprez, a difference of pay which should mark the difference of position. She required a salary of 40,000 f. The impresario, M. Perrin, resisted ; she insisted ; and the result was that she left the Opera Comique for the Varietis, and exchanged the queens of the opera for the soubrettes of vaudeville. Sti g e made her first dAbut in the Trois Sundaes, the chief work of Favart, written by him for his wife. The attempt has been completely successful, and we shall have a second edition of the case of poor Jenny Colon, who, after having for several years held the sceptre of song at the Opera Comique, became for many more the most charming and admired actress of vaudeville. THE THEATRES are decidedly in the praiseworthy vein to reproduce on the stage the masterpieces of the old ripertuire. After the Chercheuse d'Esprit, the 7'rois Su'tams, &c., we had, at the Opera eomique, Se value's Deserteur, a piece of which three quarters of a century have not exhausted the success. We ap prove the tendency, as a good old piece will always he preferable to a bad new one. THE ART ExmarrioN will open at Marseilles on September lat. VIEUXTEMPS, the clever Belgian violinist, is at present engaged in a series f concerts at Hamburg. His first concert was a complete success, and he was ad mirably seconded by Mlle. Anna Bocholtz-Falconni, first cantatrice of the Court Theatre at Coburg. THE KING 4/1 , PRUSSIA has conceded the well merited decoration of the Red Eagle of the 2nd class to M. Schomburgh, British Consul at St. Do mingo, who is pursuing there his geological studies, and his scientific correspondence with his celebrated friend Humboldt. THE MOST CURIOUS PART OF THE FESTIVITY 110 W organiming in Belgium for the marriage of the young Prince Royal will be the cavalcades. In Bniistel4 some fifty chariots, the plasm of which have been 333 furnished by the most eminent Belgian artists, represent the different guilds engaged in their avocations, all in their historical costumes middle age, from which the custom of the pageantry is renewed, and several symbolic ideas, such as Bel gium, Brussels, the Constitution, the Harmony, Le. At Bruges and übent the show will be more curious still: the cavalcades, or onevgange, will represent the departure of Baldwin of Constantinle for the Holy Land; the return of the guilds atter having gloriously defeated the dower of French chivalry at Courtray; Artevelde and his retinue, ,tc. sums are to be expended for the purpose, mo " : 14 furnished by voluntary subscriptions, each branch of industry supporting the expenses of its special chariot. The Royal Family will visit each town in turn . THE CONORKOATION OF THS INDEX AT Boss has prohibited the reading of the book " Hippolytus and his Age ; or the Doctrine and Practice of the Church of Rome under Commoclus and Severna," &c., by Chev. Ch. Josiaa Bunsen, 4 vols., London, 1852. Tee LATE EXHIBITION OF THE ACADEMIE DEN ARTS IN PAR I ri. —lt has Wen observed with satisfaction in Paris that the Emperor hag deputed Prince Jo rome Napoleon to preside at the distribution of prizes concluding the Art Exhibition of this year. The speech of tho Prince has been characterised by a passage presaging the intention of the present French Government to give art every sort of assist. ance and countenance. On the 2nd inst. the Em peror gave a magnificent dinner at St. Cloud, where, besides the Prince and the principal dignitaries eon. nected with the exhibition, all the artists who re ceived the Legion of Honour on that occasion had been invited. SCIENCE ANTI ART IN .I.tvi.—The Dutch Govern ment have of late paid great attention to the mineral riches of their Indian possessions, and the engineer, M. Schroder, has explored the north of the island of Macassar with the view of finding coal. Several strata of this mineral have been already found, but not of sufficiently good quality. The next research will extend to the island of Batjan, where gold and cop. per, as well as coal, are said to exist—ln the month of September a public exhibition of the industrial and agricultural products of Java will take place at Batavia. The Musical Society of the latter plats publishes (in the Java Gazette) an appeal to amateurs for their co operation in the concerts which are to take place at the same time. A French theatre also exists at Batavia, where operas are per formed. VACA NC I ES. The Rectory of Auckland, with the Rectory of Forfarth sod the Rectory of Mardenwell, near Louth, Lincolnshire, by the death of the Rev. Charles Fleetwood Weston, M.A. The united benefices are worth about S&U. pee annum, and are in the gift of the Earl of Yarborough. The Rectory of Motnerby, near adalitford-bridge, by the death of Mr. Weston; worth 1501. a year; in the gift of the Lord Chancellor. The Vicarage of Thiutted, near Challastord, by the death of the Rev. Thome+, Jee, M.A.; worth 5001. a year, In the gift of Viscount Maynard. Ily the death of the Rev. •lohn Oliver lie&ns, which took place after a short illness on Monday haat. the toeumbsacy of fit. Mary's, Shrewabury, and the rural deanery of fildep, are rendered vacant. The incumbency Is of the annual value of 11121., and is in the gift of the corporation of Miirewabuq. Tli.. Head Mastership of Wilton Onsionsar Wog. Cbsskire, 11414 heetillie vacant by the resignation of the Rev. Charles Hand, M.A. The appointment is the gift of the trustees. The Incumbency of ML Mary a Church, Kirkdabs, Linesehite. has become vacant by the resignation of the Rev. David Jsass, M.A.; worth 1501. a year ; in the gift of the trustees. The Perpetual Ctu acy of Mt. Nicholas, Ipswich, by the death of the Rev. M. 0. Edgar, M.A. ; worth about 9001. a Olt; in the gift of the parishioners. gkt Sabi. APPOINTMENTS AND PROMOTIONS. Rear-Admiral David Price, to be commander-in-chief on the Pacific station. In the room of Rear• Admiral Fantail Idereeby, c. 11., in the command of that station mince August 31, OW. COMMANDER—JohnM'DMVIiii /Mien., (lode), frotu the Coast Huard, to command the Ilaknart, 01, MIO4/p, at Devonpott, vie* Commander West, whose aPPailiefflobe has been cancelled. Limits:rimers—William G. Dou an (1M45), hum the Coast Guard service, to the Odin, la, iswheel steam-frigate, at Portsmouth; 11. 111. Elliott (1147 , to the Ajar, 68, serew•ahip, ri t u Spithead ; Henry 11. Woollrombe (NM), to the Arrepout, 47, serest steam-frigate, at Portsmouth; Charles J. MINIM (1!141!), and denier S. 'reptile!' (18 ( 1), to the Plumper; Franuis S. IMA- M/II (1853), to the Philmeel, S. sloop, at Devonport. •-.• alma—Edward M'Kenzie (1659), to the Phibrael, 8, Devoe. '..re P. Iluruel , (lBs2), hues the lido. port. SLc()tit) roue, steam-frigate, M Dryunport, to ... Cumberland, 70, INeci ship, on the West India and North American station. Msys—JOin B. Balfour (1251), from the Excellent, gummier ship, at Portsmouth, to the Nuke, 22, paddle-wheel steam-legs* at Portsmouth ; Marcus I'. Olsten° (IOU), to the Prowler ; Ed ward T. Nottt (1a51), to the Owen, 116, at Devottport PAYII W. C. Brown (1851), to the Plel; litotes' Taylor Wise (1841), to the Ploottper, 2, screw steam-sloop, as Portsmouth. Miusuirstm—T. N. L. Carter, to the Ajax, ss, screw steam ship, at Portsmouth ; P.. 1. Flaakeir, to the Plumper, 0, resew maim-sloop, at Portsmouth; 11. Mt. J. MiklmaF, to the St. Jess d'Aerv, 101, screw steam-ship, at Deronport ; charley Hamm, to the Tribune. 30, screw swam-higate, at Portsmouth. 'itaotorts—Willism Mumma ( R5l). tothe Pfaikawsi; J. Camp bell (1x52). to the Plumper. 12, screw, Portsmouth. Assistant-Sunoco/ft—Edwin T. Watkins (184 s), to the Apt. meonnots. 31, screw steam-ship, at Portsmouth; William Richard- DM (106), to the antelope, attam-ramal, at Fortnum&