The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-09 00:00:00

MAY 9, 1857. more pungent quality than that in civilised man, who takes little exercise, eats five meals a day, and drink► beer, wine, and brandy. The simple rule of use against abuse in diet is at the bottom of all the new medical theories. It is the basis of homoeopathy and of the cold-water cure, and Sir John Forbes would have us apply it to drugs. To those persons who habitnate themselves to the constant usP of a pet drug, we recommend Sir John Forbes' book ; it will go far to disabuse them of their error ; while for medical men, we can only say the argument appears logical and incontrovertible. Sir John, we see, an nounces his intention of taking up homa3opathy in a second volume. The Egyptians in the Time of the Pharaohs. By Sir Gardner Wilkinson. London: Bradbury and Evans. TIII9 popular abridgment of Sir Gardner Wilkinson's great work upon the " ',Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egpytians " forms a valuable handbook to the study and comparison of the different styles of Egyptian sculpture and architecture in the Crystal Palace or British Museum. A careful summary of all that is known of the early habits, pursuits, and domestic life of the people is given in the first chapters, but the limits of the work necessarily pre clude anything but a general sketch of their advance in art and science. The progress of the Egyptians, says Sir Gardner Wilkinson, from early times would certainly be an interesting inquiry:— They were a people peculiarly wedded to their customs, in which time made little or no alteration ; and the few changes they underwent, or admitted, as in the size of their temples, or the luxury of their homes, were mostly consequent upon advancement in wealth and civilisation. In other respects, they were much the same under the early and later Pharaohs. But it must be borne in mind that we tit) not see them in their infancy as a nation ; we find no archaic style of art, no prinneval habits ; and the general character of the people, as of their architecture, had been long established when we first become ac• luainted with them from their monuments, and continued to be the same till the decline of Egyptian power. What their primitive habits were it is difficult to say, or what they might have become if left unfettered by conventional regulations. Nothing has ever yet been discovered to illustrate the position of the Egyptians when they migrated into the valley of the Nile, and Sir Gardner Wilkin son hazards the opinion that it is "not probable" anything will ever be found to show what they were as an infant nation : Much has been said of resemblances between them and the people of India; and the cow of Athor, nt Deriders, worshipped by our sepoy soldiers, has been cited as a proof of a similarity of religion. Of this, however, we may be certain, that neither the Hindoos borrowed from .Egypt, nor Egypt from the Hindoos, who were not even settled Month of the Purijaub at the time when Egypt was flourishing. Whatever relationship may have existed origin. ally between the Egyptian and Hiniloo races before they both left Central Asia, we look in vain for any between them after that period. Even if commerce at a later time established tin indirect intercourse with any pert of India, this could have hail little influence on the customs of either people, who never came into actual contact; and with regard to southern India, the aboriginal tribes of that peninsula ( its sole possessors in thosedaysl were of atotally different extraction from the Hindoos, who overran the eauntry at a period comparatively modern in the history of Egypt. If certain customs of the Egyptians are found to resemble those of the Hindoos, they do not prove any relationship between the two races ; and we may look to the Asiatic origin of the Egyptians to account for any analogy between them and other Oriental nations of antiquity. This volume is handsomely illustrated with nume rous coloured engravings and woodcuts, and contains in addition a valuable paper upon the study of Egyptian hieroglyphics, by Mr. Birch. Doll's New Parliamentary Companion. New Edition. London : Whittaker and Co. fly the time Parliament has met for the despatch of business, this excellent parliamentary handbook, well printed, carefully edited, and as concise and accurate as circumstances would admit, is placed at public disposal. So many changes have occurred in the House that the publication of a new edition within the period of the dissolution and re-assent bling of Parliament reflects the highest credit upon the industry and skil of Mr. Dod. Several improve ments and additions, rendering reference more easy, have been adopted, such as designating the politics of peers by word in place of symbol, correcting the club list, placing the Post-office district initials after each address, recording the votes against church rates in 1855, and also the votes of the Liberals who opposed Lord Palmerston in the China debate, and of the Conservatives who supported him ; while on the opinions of new members, Mr. Dod has in all possible cases preferred the exact words of the member on the hustings or in his address to any other definition of his politics. Mr. Dod is forced to adopt this plan, he tells us, from the close balance of parties, which necessitates "a more extended statement than ip the days when ' Whig ' and 'Tory,' fiE PRESS. Conservative ' and 'Liberal,' served to classify the house." In these days, as in those, the House con sists of two great parties, the Conservatives and Liberals ; and the subdivisions Mr. Lod has thought it necessary to adopt are net always so accurately placed as we could wish. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.-M.'r BOOKS. Essays, Critical and Imaginative. By Pro'essor Wilson. Part IV. W. Blackwood. Dark and Fair. By Sir Charles Rockingham. Three vols. Hurst and Blackett. New Zealand or Zealandia, the Britain of the South. By chitties Hurathouse. Two vols. E. Stanford. Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, with Elucidations. Three vols. Chapman And Hall. Jack Hinton, the Guardsman. By Charles Lever. Chapman and Hall. The Two Dianas. T. Hodgson. Essays and Sketches. By the late W. Pitt Scargill. R. Hardwicke. Ballads and Songs. By David Mallet. Bell and Ilalby. Parlour Library.—Thl Woodman. T. Hodgson. The Press, the Pulpit, and the Platfur n. C. Newby. Confirmation Manual. J. F. Hope. The Reason 11 , :hy, Honlston and IVrignt. Narrative of the - Defence of Kars, Historicil and MilitUry. By Colonel Atwell Lake, C.B. R. Bentley. History of the War in Afghanistan. By John William Kaye. Vol. 11. B. Bentley. The Sister of Charity ; or, from Bermondsey to Belgravia. Two vols. R. Bentley. The Life of Handel. By Victor Schcelcher. TPubner. G‘rendoline and Winfred. Poems. John Minot'. A Manual of the Practice of Elections in the United Kingdom. Denning and Co. Speeches on Social and Political Subjects. By Henry Lord Brougham, F.H.S. Vol. 11. • Griffin and Co. La Fleur et La Fenille. Poeme. Basil M. Pickering. Handel: his Life, Personal and Professional. A Sketch by Mrs. Bray. Ward and Co. Suggestions for the Repression of Crime. By Matthew Davenport Hill. John W. Parker and Son. i 1 us IC. HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. Is it necessary for a prima donna t.. understand the art of vocalisation ? Is it sufficient for a singer to be enabled to act, and is it quite superfluous to be qua lified to master the scales? These questions have been answered by the frequenters of Her 3lajesty's Theatre ; and their decision is that they do not require Piccolomini to be a musician, and that they are quite content because she can act. The recep tion of the new Lucia has established this theory. Be it so ; but then would it not be expedient to announce in the operatic aches—" Lucia will be Played by Mlle. Piccolomini, but the music will be sung by the other artistes in the east ?" It would be a libel to so designate her execution of the aria d'entrata, and of the grand scena in the last act, as singing, unless it be taken as a burlesque. Of all the Lucias we ever heard in any country, we cannot recollect any other instance than that of last Thurs day of such a total massacre of Donizetti's score, in the soprano part, as that by the piquant Piccolomini ; and she resorts to her " evasions," as a contempo- rary mildly terms them, with irresistible naiveté. If she was in a difficulty in an ascending passage, she gaily tripped over the notes with a spnsmodicfortissimo which made the judicious writhe and wince, but which produced thunders of applause from her reckless admirers. Leaving, however, Donizetti's Lucia to her fate, Piccolomini's Lucia, if she had spoken the words, wauld have excited no little interest. There is much earnestness about her, and when there is a determination to do, accompanied by youth and per sonal attractions, occupants el stalls become very lenient. There was no end to the ovations she re ceived, so our notions must be in a miserable minority. It was curious to listen to the refinement and finish of the new tenor Ginglini by the side of his inamorata." He sang charmingly, and now and then magnificently. His love phrases in the opening duo were delicious; there was such intensity about them, and they were so gracefully conceived as well as executed. Another fine singer was in the cast—Signor Belletti, as the inexorable brother, Enrico. Vialetti as Bidebent did duty as basso se condo—his proper place. The incomparable Alboni will appear next Tuesday as I'osina, with Herr Reichardt as Count illmarira. Charles Braham is also engaged as tenor, and it is rumoured that Ma dame Frezzolini will also be included in the troupe, to sing Mendelssohn's Lorely, which is to be put in action and produced at one of Benedict's three " musical festivals" at this estAblisbment. Beetho ven's " Pastorale " symphony,. is also to be dra matised pantomimically. ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA. MME. Bosio returned on Thursday night in Verdi's Rigoletto, and was warmly welcomed. She is in the full possession of her powers of florid vocalisation, and has now "made her public" by shear industry and perseverance. Her gradual rise in popular estimation is a remarkable proof how little a vocalist can suffer by severe criticism, if she has within her the essential element of an artiste. No prima donna came with less noise, and her first season exposed her to commentaries, which, so far from dis heartening her, were an incentive to study and practice. Mme. Bosio now legitimately holds the position once occupied by Mlle. Persiani, and it is bat justice to the former to add that she has vastly im proved as an actress since the smiles of the sub scribers have baen secured. With Didie, Ronconi, Tagliafico, and Mario, in the cast of Rigoletto, the representation left nothing to be desired. Next Thursday Mme. Bosio will appear in the Traviata, in which part she created quite a furore in St. Pe tersburg. Graziani and Mario will be included in the cast. Mlle. Victoire Balfe will make her debut next Thursday week as Amina in the Sonnambula. SACRED HARMONIC SOCIETY. A FINE performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah took place at Exeter•hall on Wednesday, under Costa's direction. The principal vocalists were Mme. Rudersdortf, Miss Dolby, Mrs. Lockey, Mr. Weiss, and Mr. Sims Reeves. The season of the society is virtually closed. There will be one more oratorio given—namely, Costa's Eli, on Wednesday, the 10th of June, preceding the rehearsal on Friday, the 12th of June, by the 2,5►00 executants 01 the Handel Festival on the 15th, 17th, and 19th of June. The sale of tickets for this monster meeting has been already very great, and the interest increases laity amongst professors and amateurs to ascertain how far such large masses will be effective in the execution of Handel's works. As regards the chorines in The Messiah, Israel, and Judas Mat-ea- Letts, the results must be overwhelming, and the choral portions of these oratorios are the main features. PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY. THE piquancy of a Philharmonic programme would assuredly be promoted by a novelty now and then, even if the novelty failed to prove a masterpiece. The run on Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven atul Mendelssohn for symphonies, and on Weber, Cheru bini, and Rossini for overtures, has been so long con • tinued, that a modern work would be really accept able, if only to have the fact confirmed that there is nothing new under the sun. Beethoven's C minor, and Mozart's in D, No. 2, Weber's " Ruler of the Spirits," and Mendelssohn's " Isles of Fingal," are all as familiar as househol I words—the last mentioned overture, owing to its animated execution, under Dr. Bennett's baton, being redemanded. M. Remenyi, the first, violin in her Majesty's private band, who made his debut at the last anniversary festival of the R iyal Society of Musicians, performed Ernst's concerto patlzilique, ,nd produced considerable excitement by his skil ful and poetic reading of that very clever composition, which exacts from an execu tent a thorough mastery of manual intricacies, as well as a sentimental supremacy which it is the province of few violinists to attain. Einst himself seemed quite satisfied with Remenyi's reading, and the general auditory did not evidently require the cue from the gifted composer to do honour to the new comer. thttesini's coutrabasso concerto developed his conceptional powers as well as wondrous executive feats. As a composition it was highly creditable to his theoretical learning; and as a piece of wotkmanship on such a ponderous instru ment the effects produced were marvel,. Mrs. Euderssohn and Miss Lascelles were the vocalists. THE MUSICAL UNION. THE welcome return of Mine. Clara Schumann was the great event of the second meeting. Since last year, this world-renowned pianiste, better known as Clara Wieck, has lost her husband, the late Dr. Schumann, distinguished both as a critic and com poser. Tho director could not have selected a finer composition than Beethoven's famous sonata appos sionate in F minor, op. 57, to develop the attributes of the queen of pianistes. Never was she in finer play, and never was a more profound sensation created on a large and criti?,al assembly than by her magnificent interpretation, the more remarkable as the sonata was played from memory. Her own fancy and imagination, as with all performers of genius, dictated the reading. Original thinkers do not bind themselves by the readings of others, and Mme. Schumann stamped the sonata with her own seal, a soul-stirring speciality with which she is pecus; 0 463