The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-15 00:00:00

PERIODICAL LITERATURE.

THIS month's number of the Journal of the Statistical
Society of London contains an interesting article on
" The Effect of the War, in Russia and England,
upon the Principal Articles of Russian Produce."
The results of the inquiry are thus summed up :
That, previous to the war, Russia exported her principal
Baltic produce chiefly to England, and England imported
such productions chiefly from Russia. _ _

That, since the outbreak of war, the exports of produce
from Russia have diminished to a greater proportionate
extent than the general imports of such articles into

England.
That there has not been an increase of value of produce
in Russia to compensate the producer for the decrease of
exports; whilst supplies from other countries than Russia,
and the use of substitutes, will prevent the consumer, in
England, suffering from very high prices.
The article on " Our National Strength " is also
exceedingly curious. It is based upon the Census of
1851, and is well worth perusal.
The present is an entertaining number of The
West of Scotland Magazine, and must be considered
decidedly cheap at the price. The article of
greatest pretension is that entitled " Our Study,"
and contains some very rational criticism, though we
•annot agree with it as a whole.

SATURDAY,

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.
BOOKS.

The Birthday Council, or, How to be Useful. Alaric Watts.
Hamilton and Co.
A Bird's-eye View of India. By Sir Erskine Perry, M.P.
J. Murray.
The War in the Crimea. By the Earl of Ellesmere. Ditto.
Zaidee. A Romance. Three Vols. By Margaret Oliphant.
Blackwoods.
The Spirit of the Holly. By Mrs. Owen. Routledge.
Journal Kept During the Russian llar. By Mrs. Henry
l)uberley. Longmans.
The Christmas Tree, and other Tales. By Frances Kemble.
J. W. Parker and Son.
Nonpariel House, or, The Fortunes of Henry Moun(joy. By
Henry Curling. Three Vols. Hall and Virtue.
Poems. By William Parkinson, M.A. Bell and Laid]•.
Oeland; a Thread of Life. Ward and Locke.

PAMPHLETS.

Position and Prospects of the London Reformatory Institu-
tion. By Henry Whitehead, M.A. Hatehard.
The Principles of the English Reformation. itivington.

Blusit.

EXETER-HALL.

THE return of Jenny Lind after an absence of nearly
six years was an event certain to create no little ex-
citement among all classes. Exeter•hall conse-
quently on Monday night was as full as Mr. Mitchell
would permit it to be, and that was just as full as it
ought to be, and no more. The reception of Jenny
Lind was of course enthusiastic. In appearance she
is thinner, but looks remarkably well. In the open-
ing air and chorus, "The marvellous work," her
voice seemed a little tremulous, but she soon throw
that off, and in "Verdure clad" sang with faultless
intonation and exquisite and unrivalled brilliancy.
In the trio and chorus, " The Lord is great," her lull,
rich, mellow notes were heard far above all with mar-
vellous power, while in that chef d'oeuvre of descrip-
tive music, "On mighty pens the eagle wings her
way," she sang in the perfection of taste, and with
consummate effect. There is no doubt that Jenny
Lind still retains her voice in all its original ex-
cellence. The mellowness of tone, and the wonder-
ful elaiicity which enables her to execute faultlessly
those rapid flights in the highest regions of the scale,
are still there ; while her unrivalled taste in the
interpretation of the text in sacred music, is dis-
played by her pure simplicity of style. For sacred
music there never was a more correct singer than
Jenny Lind. Throughout the whole of the per-
formance on Monday, in all the duets and conceited
pieces, the perfection of her style was remarkable.
The audience were enthusiastic, and the applause
so genuine that the fair cantatrice must have been
pleased with her generous welcome and the warm
appreciation the audience evinced of her efforts to
please them. In other respects the concert was
below the average—the orchestra was uncertain, and
the choruses' weak. We shall hope to see and hear
both under improved circumstances in the perform-
ance of the Elijah on Monday next.

COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE.
ON Monday night M. Jullien gave the last of his
festivals, on which occasion the first part of the con-
cert was devoted to a selection from the instrumental
works of Beethoven. The overture to Fidelio, the
concerto in C for the violin, the piano concerto in D,
the scherzo from the symphony in A, and the sym-
phony in C minor, evidently delighted, without any
exaggeration, a house crowded iu every part. The
change effected by N. Jullien in the taste of that
portion of the public over which he has for many
years exercised the most beneficial influence, must
hate been plainly and strikingly obvious to the
most careless observer on Monday evening. The
promenade was thronged by attentive listeners,
whose faces, if they were not agitated by that in-
tensity of enjoyment which would have interested the
observer in a continental audience, were at least
filled with honest unaffected relish of the glorious
music which, a very few years since, they would
almost unanimously have voted a most awful bore
before the evening was half over.
It has been too much the fashion to regard M. Jullien
as a clever but rather eccentric and amusing com-
poser and conductor. He is, with all his absurdities,
"Sebastopol Quadrilles," pantomime, and claptrap,
something better and higher—a great and successinl
musical educator. He has trained his uncultivated
bearers as carefully and patiently as any village
schoolmaster the unmanageable little cubs committed
to his charge. Beginning in early times with single
movements selected from great instrumental worts,
a taking allegro, a quaint scherzo, a beautiful
andante, he accustomed his audiences at length to
bear a whole symphony for the sake of some familiar
single portion of it. Very manifest at first were the
outward and visible signs of impatience on the part of
the pupils; but M. Jullien a change tout cela, and
now the few yawners are perhaps a solitary couple
of strayed " swells " in the promenade, or some over-
ample mamma in the private boxes.
The violin concerto on Monday was played by N.
S ainton. There was an uncertainty in the bass

DECEMBER 15, 1855•

instruments in the orchestral parts of the concert, but
M. Sainton's taste and delicacy procured him a hearty
encore, to which he responded by repeating the con-
cluding passages. M. Alexander Billet's perform-
ance of the andante in the concerto in 1) was
perfectly satisfactory, and highly applauded ; and the
wildest and oddest of all Beethoven's scherzos, set
off by contrast with its peaceful trio, wens met with a
heartiness of applause which showed that its mingled
eccentricity and beauty were thoroughly felt and
understood. The great symphony in C minor, its
strange unearthly opening movement—" Fate knock.
.ing at the door," as its author described it—the in-
tense pathos of the andante, the fire and spirit of the
allegro and allegro fugato, and the crowning triumph
of the grand march, formed a fitting conclusion to a
festival devoted to the works of the grandest musical
geoius the world has ever seen.
Y. Jullien's season concludes this evening, and he
!has the satisfaction of feeling that his concerts this
/ear, if they have proved more attractive and success
Sul than usual, have at the same time as surely con-
xributed to raise and improve the musical taste of the
people. His success is through no freak of the mil-
lion, .caught by flaming posters, it rests purely on his
own merit, and is as soli .1 and substantial as it is well
deserved.
The usual Bal Masque takes place on Monday upon
A scale unprecedented in splendour of arrangement.