The Press. — London, England, 1854-08-12 00:00:00

r* 764 lint Iris. THE TURKISH MUSEUM. ST. GEORGE'S GALLERY , first opened as a Chinese exhibition, and afterwards employed for the display of an indifferent collection of pictures, is now devoted to an admirable illustration of Turkish life. The best descriptions ever penned must appear poor when compared with the impression produced by the " counterfeit presentment" of the Osmanlis,Janissa ries, and Eastern beauties "in their habits as they live'' which this exhibition portrays. The scenes, groups, and figures are so truthfully depicted that the spectator, impressed with the reality of the scene, is willing to believe he is in Constantinople itself,—as Constantinople existed some thirty years back before the reforms of Sultan Mahmoud were effected, — wandering among its bazaars, its veiled beauties, and kaftes, far away from the murky glories of Apaley-house and its triumphal arch. The visitor enters the hall of the exhibition at the lower end, and passes a haman or bathhouse to the kafte and the barber's shop. In the centre of the hall are arranged various groups consisting of Bul garian peasants and an araba or Turkish carriage drawn by two oxen and containing a bevy of houris guarded by a black slave. Further on a lady of rank and her child are seen listening to the wild music of some gipsy performers, while beyond them is the Sultan Malimoud in divan, surrounded by his great officers of state. At the upper part of the hall are the fairy rooms of the imperial harem, with some of the houris of the palace taking their ease. On each side down the whole length of the hall are arranged different groups of figures representing various phases in domestic life, and all varieties of military and official costume. The figures are of waxwork, executed from original sketches made at Constantinople, and the great skill displayed by the artist in so happily depicting the peculiar character and expression of the different people is not the least interesting portion of the exhibition. The costumes and robes have been pre pared at Constantinople, and are very striking in their picturesque magnificence. While the general effect of the exhibition is ex cellent, there are some groups and figures that deserve peculiar commendation. In the bath saloon the dreamy fatigue of the bather, who, having com. pleted his ablutions, is enveloped in the " halous," and has delivered himself over to a luxurious repose, is admirably contrasted with the dry, dusty-tired look of the janissary just coming in, while the peculiar languid expression of the man undergoing the last ablution under the fount is one of the most perfect specimens of imitation in wax-modelling we have ever seen. The barber's and coffee shop, one and the same, is capitally arranged, the costume, position, and expression of the different figures, with the furniture and general disposition of the room and verandah, being copied from reality in the minutest details. Of the side groups, those of the janissaries, court functionaries, and military officials, are the most magnificent in point of costume, but the most re markable of these is a group of bashi-bazouks (Nos. 151-5), dressed in brilliant and picturesque colours, and loaded with handsomely-ornamented weapons. In this group there is a figure of Kara Fatma, the Kurdish chieftainess. In the group of hamals or porters the worn look of the men is caught, even to the perspiration on their faces and arms. Not less natural is the shoe bazaar, in which a veiled beauty is coquetting with the handsome merchant (a practice, the catalogue informs us, very common among the Turkish ladies), and trying on endless pairs of boots that will not fit. There is a side figure (No. 51) in a group representing an Armenian marriage, which deserves especial notice from the skill with which the expression, age, eye, and complexion of the man are marked. The large central groups, though more magnificent and im posing, are equally correct in detail. In the group around Sultan Mahmoud the eye is particularly attracted by the picturesque varieties of costume. If this exhibition had no other merit than the ex cellence of its wax models, it would well deserve a visit,—the variety of form, face, feature, and expres sion, with the excellent imitation of the hair in the eyelashes, brows, beards, and mustachios, having the softness and distinctness of nature. But, inde pendently of this excellence, the clever groups and well-designed figures, with the costumes and tout ensemble of Turkish life, combine to form a most pleasing and instructive exhibition. ITALIAN ART has just sustained an irreparable loss by the death of Paolo Toschi, the engraver, a native of Parma, who has died there at the age of little more than GO. His best-known works are the engrav ings of " Spasimo di Sicilia," from Raffaello, and of all the admirable frescoes of Correggio. Paolo Toschi was not merely a first-rate artist, but was highly informed on literary and other topics. THE PRESS. artusit. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. Giusi, the reigning queen of opera, abdicated her throne, so far as this country was concerned, on Monday night. After appearing as the Druidesa in Norma, and as Valentine in the Huguenots—after acting as effectively and singing as gloriously as ever—the curtain finally fell upon a scene of mingled triumph and sorrow ; upon an artist who had wept at witnessing the emotions her departure caused; upon the crowd of spectators admir►ng, applauding, and mourning ; upon the brilliant house resonant with farewell greetings, agitated with feelings which could find no vent in words; upon the stage heaped with votive flowers and wreaths; upon the scene in which Grisi the songstress had shone and conquered so long. Next day Grisi the woman left London for Liverpool, where, on Wednesday morning, accom panied by her husband, Mario, she took her departure in the Baltic steamer, Captain Compstock, for New York. The performances of the farewell night present nothing which calls for criticism, nor much which is easy to describe. A mass of individuals densely packed into a theatre, and every one of them endea vouring to express their individual sensations of pleasure, respect, and regret, compose a whole which cannot be depicted by any orderly array of words or colours. Suffice it to say that the house was in tensely crammed. Seats had commanded unheard-of pikes, from which, we believe, Grisi did not benefit. The audience were excited and enthusiastic in a degree, to which our insular apathy seldom mounts. And the object of all this crowding and excitement bade adieu to a British audience amidst the signs and shows of a triumph memorable even among the many she has witnessed. The series of performances which Grisi has now terminated has comprised the Huguenots, Lucretia Borgia, Norma, La Favorita, and Don Pasquali. These, if not including all her best personations, comprised those operas which the resources of the establishment at the moment afforded the means of mounting most readily and filling most effectively. To Grisi the whole series has afforded a succession of ovations, and we believe that the results in another sense are equally agreeable to the manager of the Royal Italian Opera. The Comte Ory of Rossini was produced on Wednesday for the first time. This was one of the novelties promised when the season opened, and is now brought ont apparently merely to keep word with the public. Mlle. Bosio took the principal part, originally played by Madame Cinti, and accomplished her task very creditably. She was recalled at the fall of the curtain, an honour which was shared by Mlle. Marai and Signor Luchesi. The season terminates finally this (Saturday) evening. Ott prams. The PRINCESS'S THEATRE closed its season, which has lasted without intermission for eleven months, on Wednesday last. The season at the OLYMPIC came to a close last (Friday) evening. Robson has been engaged by the manager of the Dublin theatre, with whom he opens on Monday next. WHITTINGTON CLUB.—On Thursday evening an entertainment, entitled "London Lodgings and Lodgers," was given at the above club in Artmch 1- street, Strand. The performances consisted of an amusing lecture, by Mr. Edward Copping, upon the miseries incidental to London lodgings, accompanied by various laughable illustrations of lodgers and landladies. The four imitations given of well-known actors of the day were among the hits of the evening. As the performance will probably be repeated we suggest a little abbreviation in the comic songs, which, with the one exception of "Fond Mothers," appeared tedious ; and there should be a decided curtailment of the "Farmhouse Misery." Mr. Copping, however possesses great power of mimicry, and an astonishing range of voice, and, with a little more practice, will be able to make his entertainment highly acceptable to the public. THE NIGER-CHADDA EXPEDITION appears to be unfortunate. The death of its experienced leader, Captain Becroft has been already announced; and we are now informed that the young Prussian ethnologist, Dr. Bleek, who, through the influence of the Chevalier Bunsen, was sent out to join the Pleiad, has been invalided home in the same vessel in which he started from Plymouth a few months ago. Dr. Balkie, R.N. is now the leader, and Com mander Miller, of Her Majesty's ship Crane, has permitted his second master, Mr. May, to assist in the navigation up the river. SATURDAY, lortign art, Sittratart, ttt. THE NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENT has granted a sum of 20,000 spd. for the purchase of an agricultural scientific farming estate ; 30,000 spd. for buildings on the same ; and 3,000 spd. yearly for travelling agri cultural teachers. THE CHEVALIER ADRIANO DE REVEL, well known in London society as the secretary and charge d'affaires of Sardinia for several years, has died in Turin of cholera. At the period of the diplomatic rupture between Austria and Sardinia, in reference to the Lombard sequestrations question, Chevalier de Revel represented the latter Government at the Imperial Court of Vienna, and since his withdrawal from thence he resided in a private capacity at Turin, Chevalier de Revel held strong constitutional opin ons, and was a man of considerable talent and of mild and amiable disposition: his untimely demise has caused universal regret in Turin. He was only 42 years of age. SOME time since, some grains of wheat taken from an old Egyptian sarcophagus at Cairo were given to a member of the Agricultural Society of Compiegne, by whom they were sown, and the most surprising result has occurred. The stems which have risen from the seed are as large as a reed, the leaves are rather more than an inch in breadth, and the ears have each 100 grains of very large size, so that several of the original seeds have multiplied 2,000-fold. It is thought that the seed dates as far back as Sesostris, or at least Cleopatra. THE TELEGRAPH CABLE between the islands of Corsica and Sardinia was laid down on the 29th ult., the Persian having been obliged to anchor two days in the Bay of Madalena, in consequence of heavy westerly winds. The success of the enterprise has acted as a stimulus to the Trieste people, who now talk of laying down a wire between Dalmatia and one of the lonian Islands. If this had been executed as soon as the war broke out, a great part of the expense of laying the wire might already have been defrayed by the receipts. THE RECEIPTS OF THE THEATRES, concerts, and other places of amusement in Paris, for the month of July, amounted to 543,453 f. 58c. ; being a decrease on those of the previous month, of 388,767 f. 72c. THE PARISIAN DRAMATIC JOURNALS say it is almost certain that Mlle. Plessy will shortly reappear upon the boards of the Theatre Francais. This is a great piece of theatrical news. Mlle. Plessy, whose performances will be fresh in the recollection of those who were patrons of the St. James's Theatre some ten years ago, was, after the death of Mlle. Mars, without a rival in the highest walk of comedy, and the void created on the French stage when the Emperor of Russia beguiled her away has never been filled up. ettitsiastical. PREFERMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS. The Rev. Thomas Ramsbotham, M.A., to the Perpetual Curacy of Waltnersley, in the parish of Bury. The Rev. Henry Ellison, to the Stipendiary Curacy of Christ's Church, Salford. The Rev. William Allan Stevenson, M.A., to the Stipendiary Curacy of Withington. The Rev. James Whytt, 8.A., to the Incumbency of Thorpe Healey, near Rotherham, Yorkshire. The Rev. George Robinson, MA., to the Vicarage of Keyns ham, Somersetshire. The Rev. Thomas Williams, 8.D., to the Rectory of St. George or Kegidog, near Abergele, Denbighshire. The Rev. Charles William Devis, 8.A., to the Curacy of Breen° near Axbrldge, Somerset. The Rev. Charles Hare, M.A., to the Rectory of St. Munchin's. The Rev. H. C. Langley, 8.A., to the Curacy of St. Ilichael's Parish, Limerick. The Rev. J. Crawley Vincent, M.A., to the Incumbency of Dy serth, Flintshire. The Rev. Evan Evans to the Incumbency of Rh)l. The Rev. J. R. Owen. MA., to the Rectory of Ilanverres. The Rev. Samuel Williams, 8.A., to the Incumbency of South 13rewham, near Bruton, Somerset. The Rev. John Rowe, M.A., to the Curacy of Street, near Dart mouth. VACANCIES. The Incumbency of Hoylake, in the diocese of Chester; wore 1201. a year, in the gift of the Bishop of Chester. The Curacy of Stourton, Wiltshire; in the gift of the Rev John Drake, M.A. The Curacy of Llantrisaint, Anglesea; in the gift of the Very Rev. John Jones, 13. D. The Curacy of the Parochial Chapeiry of Hindley, near Wigan, diocese of Cheater ; worth 801. a year, in the gift of the 11ev. Pe- ter Jones, M.A. The Curacy of Ormskirk, Lancashire, diocese of Chester; in the gift of the Rev. Joseph Bush, M.A. MR. VANDENHOFF, the tragedian, announced reeendy that he was about to take a final leave of the stage. In consequence of this announcement a public meeting was held in the Clarendon Rooms, Liverpool, on Tuesday, to impress upon him the propriety of reconsidering his de termination, as, in the present condition of the British stage, it was felt that his services could not be dispensed with. A number of resolutions were passed requesting Mr. Vandenhoff to accede to the wishes of his friends, and a deputation was appointed to wait upon him for the purpose. mnimilmlNllllMldl