The Press. — London, England, 1857-01-17 00:00:00

JANUARY 17, 1857. Map of London. With New Postal Districts, &c. London : Stanford. THE utility of this publication speaks for itself. The Postmaster-General having determined to consult the convenience of the public by the division of London into postal districts, some such map as that before us became indispensable. The public will be obliged to Mr. Stanford for having satisfied this want so speedily and so well. THE THEATRES. THE Christmas entertainments having now settled down into the positions they will respectively occupy for the season, we shall not incur the risk of in juring any manager by giving a glance round the theatrical world. The remarks we offered at Christmas touching the puffing system of criticism, the character of the playgoing public, and the artistic demerits of certain members of the profes sion, have given great offence to many who have reasons for defending the existing state of things, and great satisfaction to a better class of persons. While we have received both published and privately forwarded abuse for daring to say that most thea trical notices were puffs secured by management, that most theatrical audiences, by their impartial attendance at good performances and vile ones, show that they neither care for nor comprehend the dif ference, and that several actors and actresses are by no means the marvels they allege themselves to be, we have, per contra, been informed by actors of the first class, by persons who love the drama, and by members of literary and cultivated society, that we " have hit the right nail on the head," and can do much service to the stage and its professors by ex posing the humbug which surrounds them with a false atmosphere. We are favoured, too, with a variety of anecdotes and information illustrative of our original propositions. We are apprised of various ways in which different London managers deal with critics, of the manner in which certain managers and manageresses who " act themselves " insist on the characters which they do not sustain being subordinated to their own (and some recent instances are given of this) ; and we are told how and why handsome actresses are got rid of in an establishment where there is a manageress, and sought for in a theatre where there is not. A good deal of this sort of communication is mere " green. room gossip," and we shall certainly not retail it; but of some of the facts which were previously within our knowledge, and some of the information which is being poured in upon us, we shall make such use as is befitting, and as will promote the object we have in view—the exposure of theatrical humbug. Our present remarks, however, will be chiefly con fined to a glance at the entertainments of the season. We trust to obtain credit from one of our most angry assailants for having abstained from uny such criti cism until these performances had taken their place in the popular estimation. We could not go quite so far he does, and say that a critic ought to abstain from doing his duty to the public in reference to a pantomime, because its getting up costs a manager so much trouble and expense, but we could hold our tongues until the manager had got his production into fair working order, a reticence of which the puffers are incapable. We find, after visiting most of the metropolitan theatres, that the anticipations which we expressed as to the character of their holiday novelties have been verified pretty com pletely. The DRURY LANE pantomime is much too long, the introduction occupying at least thrice the time which should be devoted to it ; but the class who fill the house, and fill it "chock-full," like plenty for their money, and the production is a success. Some of the scenery is very good, even taking the high stan dard which we are now accustomed to apply to such work. What we must persist in calling the " foolery " of doubling the number of performers, spoils the pantomime, by making it fragmentary, and destroy. ing the dramatic character of the affair. Ba h the way, there is a species of war between the tTeatre in Windsor Castle and that in Drury lane ; and though one would actually wish to pronounce the metropoli tan recalcitrant in the wrong, there are certainly two ways of telling one story. We are perfectly aware of what is said to have been the original coatis Belli, and may have to refer to it hereafter, in connection with certain new " improvements " in this establish ment ; but on the question avowedly at issue we cannot say that Mr. Charles Kean, acting for Wind sor, is in the right. THE PRESS. To proceed to the HAYMARKET, where we said that we expected to find a good pantomime, we meet with the best one of the season. Taken as a whole, Mr. Buckstone's production is the freshest, and prettiest, and cheeriest of all, and certainly the only one which it would be possible to sit out twice. The PRINCESS'S pantomime is excessively (lull, but got up with Mr. Kean's usual attention to (ac cessories. There is no single startling trick to maks the town talk (like that imported from Paris a few seasons ago, when a whole roomful( of furniture berame human), but what is done is done neatly. The LYCEUM presents, as its transformation scene, the most cleverly contrived and beautifully executed scenic display which we have witnessed in a quarter of a century's theatrical recollections—let us name Mr. Fenton, its inventor. Any London child to whom this bit of enchantment is not shown, for the enrichment of his dreams, will have a valid excuse for any unfilial conduct in his riper years. The dramatic setting of this gem is not exactly standard metal, but may pass. The jokes are sadly finite. At the ADELPIII we saw some very pretty scenery, and saw Mme. Celeste in one exceedingly beau tiful dress, but as she was permitted to take the principal character in the production, neither we nor anybody else could form the least idea of its meaning, fromfthe words she was mangling. " Gen tlemen learning to read are requested to take yester day's paper," was the quiche in the country inn. " Actresses learning English are requested to study in the provinces," might be a hint at the Adelphi. We must postpone notice of a burlesque, which seemed good, until the leading part is given to somebody who will not massacre it; the subsequent panto mime is dull. The OLYMPIC burlesque is the slightest and weak est of Mr. Planche's recent productions, but it is too brief to offend; and Mr. Robson, though he has not lately been fitted with good parts (this is no excep tion), always makes an impression by his intensity. We are exceedingly glad to find that after a long illness Mr. Wigan has recovered sufficiently to play at Windsor. NVe did not stay much longer in the STRAND Theatre than was necessary to see whether there was anything very offensive in a lady's assumption of clown, besides the idea, and found that in the case in question there was not, but we continue our protest against the impropriety. Mr. Phelps's pantomime we have not had an op- portunity of seeing, but juvenile reporters, who are the most trustworthy in such matters, assert that it is capital. The general impression left by the Christmas pieces is that English pantomime is being destroyed at both ends, by burlesque writing, and by spectacle. Between these two stools fun falls to the ground. If Clown would do so a little more, adding a small spice of rascality, there might yet be hopes for pantomime. LORD PANARTRE ON BIBLE REVISION. LORD PANMURE, at the annual meeting last week of the Edinburgh Bible Society, said, after referring to the great number of bibles circulated by the society, he thought that upon this occasion—when they were living in times such as these—times when every attempt was made, both by those who openly opposed Protestant institutions, and by those who tried in an underhand manner to undermine them— they ought to encourage the dissemination of the Word of God, as the best means of counteracting the evils that were attempted to be put upon the country : They had heard talked of in this country, and seen put into practice in the United States, a scheme for getting what was called a new version of the Bible. Now, feeling very strongly upon that subject, he took this opportunity of stating publicly his own opinion—that such a scheme was fraught with the utmost danger to the Protestant liberties of this country ; nay, it was fraught, he believed, with danger to the Protestant religion itself. When he looked to America be was happy to find that the scheme was so far, he might almost say utterly, abortive. It was quite true, and every man must admit it, that there were perhaps some slight things, some rnistranslations in our version of the Scriptures—slight in themselves, and not affecting any great principles—which might be corrected ; but these were so slight, in comparison with the danger of letting in those who would make alterations, partly from the criticisms of erudition, and partly for the purpose of slipping in dogmas of their own, that he thought it would be a most dangerous thing—the most disastrous that could occur to this country—if we allowed those words, which had been household words in many a pious family for upwards of three hundred years, and which he hoped would be house. hold words to all the families in the world before other three hundred years had passed—he believed that if we allowed those words to be tampered with, there would be the danger of shaking our Protestant institutions to their foundation. There were certain landmarks which were necessary to the existence of the Protestant religion, and the Bible was one of them ; and rather titan risk the obliteration of that landmark, he would submit to the little discrepancies which were to be found in our present version. Let it be left to the ministers of religion to study the Holy Scriptures in the original tongues, and explain to those who sit under them wherein those little differences 67 exiswd. He was quite ce►tain of this, that if we had not had an authorised and confirmed version of the Holy Scriptures, we should never have arrived at so pure and substantial a system of Protestantism as existed at present in this countr). Therefore he hoped that if any agitation was made in this country for the purpose of disturbing our present authorised version of the Bible, the Christian community would rise as one man in its defence, and would maintain that intact which he held it to be dangerous to touch. The noble lord concluded by saying that lie trusted for the prosperity of this country, not so much to its commerce or agriculture as to the spread of a pure religious feeling amongst the inhabitants. LORD STANLEY UPON TRANSPORTATION. LORD STANLEY presided on Monday evening at a meeting of the Law Amendment Society. The sub ject discussed was the treatment of criminals. The report of the committee expressed an opinion de cidedly adverse to a return of transportation, on the ground that the ticket of-leave system had not had a fair trial. Some discussion ensued between Mr. A. Pellatt, Mr. F. Hill, Mr. Webster, Mr. Elliott, and other members, when Lord STANLEY said he might perhaps, as chairman, be allowed to make a few remarks. The debate had, practically, turned on the subject of transportation : That subject divided itself into two distinct questions: first, what they were to do with criminals while they were under punishment; secondly, what they were to do with them after their term of punishment had expired. As re garded the first of those luestions l►e believed there was a very general agreement amongst all who bad well con sidered the matter, that while a criminal was actually undergoing his sentence it was in all respects more advantageous to detain him here than to send him abroad. Under the former arrangement there was no possibility of the criminal mixing with the home population, because he was kept secluded ; there were plenty of public works upon which he might be employed ; they saved the expense of his passage ; they had a more effective superintendence than could be obtained on the other side of the world, and which was a consideration that ought not to be entirely neglected ; there was a better climate here than in most places abroad where public works could be usefully executed. The real difficulty was met with when they came to con sider the other question—what they were to do with those whose strictly penal term had expired. It seemed to him that there were only three courses which could possibly be adopted. The first was, to send the criminals to colonies which were already occupied; the second, to found new colonies expressly for the purpose of receiving them; the third, to keep them in this country, with tickets of leave, or without them. As to the propo sition to send them to colonies which were already peopled, that was an expedient of which he altogether despaired. The colonists would not consent to receive criminals, and no sane man would entertain the idea of forcing them to do so. It was often said that there were particu'ar settlements which would receive a few convicts. The reception of a few would not meet the case ; it would, at the utmost, only postpone for two or three yeara the adoption of the remedy which must be resorted to at last. The alternative lay between founding a new colony for cri minals, and providing for them at home. As to the former, it was surrounded with difficulties. In the first place, it would be absolutely necessary to exclude free settlers from any new penal colony. A new penal colony must be ex elusively penal ; otherwise the free Battlers would gradually strengthen in influence till they became the majority, and prevented any further importation of criminals. Even, however, if free settlers were excluded, a similar result would ultimately arise. The convicts who were sent out would have children—for of course women would be sent; and in thirty years there would be a new generation, consisting of persons who, being themselves innocent, would object to the importation of criminals as strongly as settlers who had gone out from England. Besides, there was the practical question, where were they to find such a place of transportation as would be required? As to selecting a small South Sea island, that was out of the question. A large area would be required, for a very con• siderable number• would have to be sent, and one. if not the principal, object of sending out criminals would be to put them in a place where there would be almost unlimited space for all. Three situations had been named ; one, the northern vart of Australia, another Vancouver's Island, th• third Hudson's Bay. Now, to every one of those locations there was some grave objection. As to North Australia, there was, in the first place, the certainty that, whatever the distance might be, the criminals who were lodged there would, whan allowed a certain degree of liberty, find their way sooner or later to the other Australian settlements. In the next place, it mast be recollected that the whole of Northern Australia was between the tropics, and that the settlement of Port Essington, which was founded there, was given up because the climate was found to be un• healthy. In fact ; all experience showed that in low-lying lands thus situated the European race degenerated, and its labour was unprofitable. With regard to Vancouver's Island, he thought the neighbourhood V the Californian diggings, and the feelings of the inhabitants of the United States, were conclusive objections to its being selected. The same objections did not, indeed, apply to Hudson's Bay ; but, then, he believed it woule be found that a sub sistence was only to be obtained there by - the climate offering insuperable objections to . stock and the cultivation of land. These considerations, as it seemed to him, all the localities which had been mentioned by hunting, the the keeping of tirn, disposed of led as available. A AI 7