The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-08 00:00:00

MI AlAitat 8, 1856. Mr. Roebuck may perhaps be right in declaring that England is strong enough to continue the war single banded, and to br i ng it to a triumphant conclusion. The v 3011130113 armament prepared for the Baltic might inflict h eav y blows on Russia, and the army now serving under t he English flag in the Crimea is strong enough to turn t he fortune of war in Asia ; but no prudent statesman wou ld break up the present alliance for the sake of military glory,leaving France and Austria at liberty to enter into new political combinations. Tho expected peace will accomplish some at least of the objects which justified the or i g i na l declaration of war. Constantinople is saved at p r esent —Austria and Sweden have profited by the oppor tunity to declare their independence of the Power which claimed them as subservient allies—the Danube is liberated —die Euxine bears no Russian fleet—above all, the mischievous and insidious treaties imposed upon Turkey during the last century have been abrogated by the war. The New Monthly contains sixteen articles, neither much above nor much below its ordin. ry standard. The story of "The Merchant's Wife" is forcibly written, and the paper on Addison by no means un attractive. The series of articles on " The Eighteenth Century" is concluded. It has not sustained the promise of the first numbers, which were really worked up with some care. There are several other useful and opportune historical and political articles. The principal papers in Bentley are, two articles of considerable ability on the Central American ques tion—the conclusion of Mr. Dudley Costello's capital story, "The Dock Warrants "—and an interesting essay on Beaumarchais. But there is a variety suit able to all tastes; and "The Spendthrift," "Bell's Chaucer," "Going to the Show," "A Week in Con stantinople," and Monkshood on Milman's " Latin Christianity," all contain points of interest. The Eclectic has an elaborate article on " The Fine Arts in France." The review of Napoleon's .• Correspondence " and Mr. Guthrie's sermons con tain nothing striking. The article on " Boy Crime" is not free from the common fault of those who write on the subject—ignorance of its practical de tails. The essay on "Recent Poetry" is superficial, and "The Review of the Month " is little more that► a collection of the opinions of the Liberal press on the topics of the day. Crambe repetita ! Tait commences with the Peace Conferences. This is rather an ambitious article, but characterised by considerable ability. The review of Lewes's "Life of Goethe " is well done, though in point of style treading on the verge of the bombastic :—" The gifts of his intellect were matured on the ashes of his heart." The memoir of Alexandre Dumas is an interesting article, and the whole number would be decidedly good were it not disfigured by the monthly nonsense called " Tangled Talk." In the Oxford and Cambridge of this month the essay on Tennyson is brought to a close. The tale of " Found yet Lost" bears too near a re semblance to the scenes in "'Tie Antiquary " be tween Elspeth and Lord Glenallan to deserve any indep,ndent praise, but it is well written. The criticism of "Men and Women" is in our opinion rather too enthusiastic; that on Macau lay's "History" somewhat too brief to give full effect to the views propounded. The article on "The Prospects of Peace" is made the channel of some sound remarks on the tendency of some among us to "play with principles," and to admire unre fleetingly the simplicity of despotic government. The Dublin contains a variety of excellent reading. The continuous story, " Love in Curl-paper-," is not indeed in the best style of fiction ; but " The History of Dublin," "The Amber Mouthpiece," and the con cluding number of "The Dramatic Writers of Ireland," are all first-rate magazine papers. The last mentioned article embraces five distinguished names—Dr. Croly, Henry Grattan, Samuel Lover, Sterling Coyne, and Sheridan Knowles. The review of Captain Marryat is written in an agreeable style, and by a critic who seems to be well acquainted with nautical matters. The comparison between Marryat and his great American rival, Cooper, appears just. In "The Opening of the Session " a somewhat re luctant praise is awarded to the temperate policy of he Opposition. The Train has two very readable articles—" Lon don Society," by Mr. Yates, and " Robson," by Mr. Sams. The first is a little too much in that style which Mr. Thackeray and Mr. Albert Smith have worn threadbare, and the second, though extremely ingenious, is not we think entirely free from the fault which the author seems to imagine may be brought against is a little turgid. The remaining ar ticles are all of t h em up to the mark. The Idler contains an excellent article entitled, "Letter to an Administrative Reformer;" it is full o f point, and goes to the root' of the matter. The essay on M r . P eter C unningham is a somewhat too violent attack on that laborious and careful writer, and we are sorry to see so much power misdirected. The first chapter of a memoir of Bolingbroke is pleasantly written, though exception may be taken to some of the views as extreme. Some verses by Mr. Morti mer C o lli ns are deserving of all praise, THE PRESS. and we think the whole number shows signs of a steady progression. No. XVI. of The Martins of Cro'Martin is a lively number, and contains some interesting scenes. PUBLICATIONS lIECEIVED.—MARcii 6. BOOKS. Clara, or Slare•Life in Europe. Bentley. Knights and their Days. lir. Doran. Ditto. The Stratford Shakspeure. C. Knight. Hodgson. The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare. Bell and Daldy. Marriage. " Parlour Library." Hodgson. Pope's Yearly Journal of Trade, 1850. Charles Pope. Kars and Erzeroum. Lieut.-General W. Monteith. Longman.. Audubon, the Naturalist in the New World. Ditto. Introduction to the Literature of Europe. H. Hallam, LL.D., F.R.A.S. Murray. Domestic Scenes in Russia. Rev. R. Lister Venables, M.A. Ditto. Holiday 110118 C. A Book for the Young. Catherine Sinclair. Simpkin ani Marshall. Freston Tower, a Tale of the Times of Cardinal Wolsey. Did°. The Monk. Mrs. Sherwood. Ditto. Griselda, a Tragedy; and Other Poem& Edwin Arnold. Bogue. A Portion of the Journal Kept by Thomas Raikes, Esq. 1831 to 18-17• Lougmans. .........._.„. The Unspeakable. C. H. Clarke. Subject of Lord Brougham's Speech on Life Peerages, 15th Feb. 1856. Ridgway. The Creation, or the Agreement of Scripture and Geological Science. Rivingtons. Ode to the British Army. Edmund Peel. Ditto. 7'he Memorial of Lutchmee Bill. The Poor Condition of the Clergy. Hatehard. The Eclectic Review. Ward and Co. Putnam's Monthly. Sampson Low and Co. The United Church Journal. Seeley and Jackson. Great World of London. Henry Mayhew. Hogue. The Art• Journal. Hall and Virtue. 7'he West of England Magazine. Ditto. Macphail's Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Journal. Simpkin and Marshall. The Amateur. Hope and Cu' Ett grams. PRINCESS'S THEATRE. A NEW three act play was produced at this theatre on Monday night, from the pen of Messrs. Tom Taylor and Charles Reade. We cannot say that we consider it to be one of the happiest of the authors' joint productions; the tiresome archaisms of the dialogue, the utter, and with such paternity as the play can boast the surprising, absence of good points, and the oppressive presence of the heaviest jester that ever tired the patience of an English audience, render the First Printer, as a whole, a fatiguing play. It contains, certainly, striking situations, sufficient, perhaps, to insure its attractive ness for a time; and the charming acting of Miss Heath in the principal female character, one of those plus femmes des femmes Mr. Reade loves to create, will doubtless take many of her admirers a second time to the theatre in spite of the cold sentimentality of the hero, the melodramatic rantings of the villain, and the copious platitude of the professional fool. The plot, with its attendant historic pros and cons. (which of course "every schoolboy knows," and which any person less learned than the omniscient "school noy " may find concisely stated at the head of the playbill), having been sufficiently enlarged upon by others, we shall confine ourselves to a few brief re marks on the performance of the different characters of the drama. The heroine, as we have said, is gracefully played by Miss Heath. In the love scenes, though she acts under the "great discouragement" of the sentimental attentions of Mr. Kean, who, like Beatrice, always seems to "suffer love," she was, as usual, touching and natural. The pleading sweetness of her voice, the little bursts of wilfulness and petulance, the rapid change, when Costar remains obstinately un forgiving, to offended dignity, which of course ulti mately resolves itself into tears and melts the haftl hearted printer, were all true to life; and in the whole scene not one touch of conventionality marred the natural beauty of the picture. Mr. Kean's Costar, in the more " powerful effects," tells considerably upon the pit and gallery, whose applause is also caltfAl down by the marked enuncia• tion of much "march of intellect," and "universal spread of knowledge," claptrap, of the obvious opportunities for which the authors have somewhat too liberally availed themselves. The scene in which Costar first discovers the destruction of his press and the loss of his types, and that where, a ruined man, broken down by imprisonment, sick ness, and hunger, he denounces his betrayer Guten berg, were acted undoubtedly with great melodra matic power; the wild attitudes of ineffective rage, the trembling hands nervously clutching at vacancy, the hoarse tones now and again failing from sheer 235 physical exhaustion, and the quivering frame, all combined to produce a forcible, but still exagge rated, representation ; but in the tenderer scenes with Margaret, where Costar is reconciled to her, where be reminds her, now estranged by the falsehood of his friends, ofj their affection, the actor's manner was stiff and cold to a degree which almost ruined the effect of Miss Heath's tenderness. There is always something ludicrous about Mr. Kean's sentiment : his lovers have a strange preference for expressing their devo. tion through the nose in the tone of a bassoon suffer ing some internal disarrangement; they are always apparently in a hurry to get through a disagreeable piece of business, perhaps out of a kind considera tion to the feelings of the lady and the audience. The remaining character, that of Gutenberg, the convaitional villain, is assigned to Mr. Ryder, who, we are free to confess, plays it villainously, " as a gentleman should." He takes as great pains as ever to expectorate every word he utters, and makes, on the whole, a greater number o f u gly faces than usual in the stage-struggles between conscience and c3nvenience. The fool is a complete failure; he is a most unmistakeable bore, and the play would be benefited by his extinction. It is a beautiful and new idea, that of leaving the villain to enjoy his ill-acquired riches, fame, and high position, bestowing on the unknown and wronged inventor the blessing of domestic happi ness—though, except in plays, we believe that the daughters of wealthy merchants do not, as a rule, choose self-asserting honesty in rags in preference to acknowledged respectability in broadcloth. The play is well put upon the stage. I • 41 8 c. I t S H 0 II I t 1 1 ii 0 el n S 0 I a Ii d S M I a 0 e , a tinustmtuts, &t. BURFORD . 9.—A panorama of Sebastopol from the Malakoff Tower, painted by the proprietor and Mr. Selous from sketches by Captain Verschoyle of the Grenadier Guards, aided by photographs, has been recently added to this collection. The moment chosen for the active portion of the picture is that memorable one at which the French, in their first assault upon the Malakoff, carried the works and planted their standard on the highest portion. On the right of the spectator, as he enters, the Zouaves, the Chasseurs-i-pied, and the 7th Regiment of the line, are seen driving the Russians in a fierce band-to-hand struggle out of the Malakoff in all directions before them. Still to the right a cloud of smoke marks the British attack on the Redan, which has just commenced; while just below in the fore ground are seen the Russian reinforcements march ing to the relief of the work. Turning to the left, on entering, the visitor observes the whole of the south side of the city, divided by the blue waters of the inner harbour, in beautiful contrast to the clear white of the long terrace of palace-like buildings which rise one above another from the edge of the harbour: the spires and domes of the cathedral and other churches, and the beautiful Greek temple in the extreme distance, aid in relieving the rather monotonous effect produced by the uniformity of colour and arrangement in the chief edifices. In front of the entrance, and in the middle of the pic ture, is the great harbour : four large ships and a few steamers are shelling the attacking parties ; and the bridge by which the Russians afterwards crossed from the south to the north side of the harbour is plainly visible. On the nearer side of the inner harbour all is ruin and desolation ; heaps of broken stone, shattered walls, and rootless buildings, fill tile space between the Malakoff and the inner harbour, too plainly indicating the terrible effects of the long continued fire to which this portion of the city was more peculiarly exposed. This panorama is painted with all the skill and perfect effect for which Mr. Burford has Worthily rendered his name famous, and is well worth the study of all who desire to see a life like representation of that desperate struggle. Scur.PruaE.—Whatever may have been the short comings of the city of London, and however low its representatives may have fallen in public estimation, they have, nevertheless, in these degenerate days, done something worthy their ancient greatness, by resolving to place in the Egyptian-hall of the Man. sion house, a number of statues by the most emi nent living sculptors. Hereafter we shall have occasion to go more particularly into the general scheme and its accomplishment ; meantime we have much satisfaction in drawing attention to one of the works so commissioned—an admirable statue of Comus, by J. G. Lough, with a private view of which we have been favoured. The moment chosen by the artist is that described by the poet when the enchanter others the tempting cup to the lady. The head is well set, calm, yet dignified, and thoroughly Greek. The attitude is easy and vigorous, and the whole expres sion such as cannot fail to raise still higher the reputation of the author of the " Milo." In a few days it will be placed on its pedestal in the City, and we shall be much deceived if the general voice dos not declare it to be one of the finest specimens cf modern att.