The Express.
London, England, 1852-12-28 00:00:00

THE "TIMES" AND THE MINISTRY.

70 TN! SUITOR OT THE DUET NEWS.
St::.—The Times is fulsome in its adulation of the
new ministry; but that adulation, however grateful
tutium: on whom it is poured, has never yet been
Powerful enough to upset a tolerably good mini-
stry or • keep in a bad one. The heaviest battery
nt the T., in its best dais was opened upon Lord
Melbourne, and kept up a tire almost unparalleled
to power of every kind except that required to eject
the object of their abuse, for Lord Melbourne
had a longer innings in Downioratreet than has
beta usual for ministers in our generation. On the
other hand, the Times tried its very best to keep
Mr. Diiiratli in the saddle. But in vain. Mr. l►s.
rich did what was absurd and wrong, and what was
therefore nationally distasteful, and Mr. Disraeli
sou out. An illustration of the same result oc-
oiled in the case of the Crystal Palace. 'rho Times
said the building should not be raised in Hyde-park.
Rut the object being proper, and the popular sanc-
tion being given, the building, as all the world
knows, rose up at Knightsbridge io spits of Printing
ilooseiquare, Lord Campbell, and Mr. Dobie.
When the Exhibition had become world-famous, the
T". 0.4 Slid it should not be removed; but the public
mid just the reverie, and dowh it came, and was
Pocked off to Sydenham. These facts are re-
aped to mind 'just to show that your able and
eleelleat contemporary, though a terrible foe, is not
always an equally important friend, and Lord Aber-
deen. and his colleagues must not suppose that in
Railing the support of the times, they are thereby
absolied from alt liability to wholesome criticism, or
414 to cajole the public into satisfaction with bad
measures ill ;lace of good ones. The people agree
with the Times when the Times goes right,—bat only
thtn.
.When its gyrations lead it to bolster up
archties or impostures, or to attack that which is
wne, jest, and beneficial, the country contents itself
by thinking what ought to be thought, and doing
shit ought to be done, and leaving Printing-House
loge to come to its armors again—which it very
oqm. does when it finds itself upon anything like a
oal'Y unpopalaz tack.
A READER OF ALL THE
DAILY PAPERS.

CHRISTMAS AMUSEMENTS.
DRUHY-LANE.

Tho public did their share last evening towards I
giving to Drury-lane an auspicious re-emeairsg, as name- I
diately upon the opening of the doors the house was
crowded from floor to wiliest, with a tishimaahle and there-
. toes orderly audience, which, contrary to all knows usage
on busing nighr, uatened with the most commend eble
pstience to the play, acd didn't hiss when the new tricks
refused to work in the pan'. mime The first piece was
another new version of Uncle Tom's Cabin, in which the
adapter has at last had the courage to grapple with
the sable hero himself, and makes him the pronnutot
character in his entertainments. In other respects
he has acted very like his predecessors, that is to say, relied
on the presumption that every one of his audience had read
the hoe., and then took a slice here and there, as it suited
his purpose, without much ngard to the unities, se Wag as
he obtained • striking situation. The iatroalactioa of the
black Hamlet has nut made the ;day run any better, than
when the part was omitted by particular dnire. To Lon-
doners who have beta aecu' untied 'sly to table nielediets
singing the most tonne of ehaunts, with the broadest of
grins,. preaching negro is all iucong innovation.
They don't believe in him, but listen to all his wetness
with a patient expeetati in that they will con-
clude with the mull chow-, banjo and bones inclusive.
flie audience of yesterday evening had evidently taken
that view of the qeestion, and let poor Uncle Tom drip
languidly through as &n on as a few nears had convinced
them that he really meant to be serious, and wouldn't sing
** Who's dat knoekin at de door ?" The other novelties in
adaptation were the rescue of Bea by Uncle Tom on the
Ohio, which hung fire from bat management, and .change
in the denouement fur the sake of uramatic justice. Pos-
sibly the piece will work better when all pasties concerned
--prompt, re, actors, and scene shifters—are hotter up in
chi it respective parts; but. as far es last night's observe-
nun went, we can afford it but a very slender
ne.dieuto of approbation. Nu trouble has been
taken to provide new and handsome scenery—
the
action pagan from one squalid interior to another,
and the charocters are sustained, with cue or two e acep•
none, he provincial mediocrities, who, in the natural
verse of things, should never have aspired to the boards ofj
Drury-lane. A son of the once-celebrated " Master bevy " I
made his ektad, but in so small a part as to give little ups
to judge of his dramatic powers; and the female characters
were saatained by ladies from the provinces, who have
evidently been accustomed to houses of much smaller
dimensions. Our old friend Charles Selby did all he could
with the ',nabob Leen*, and a Mr. H. Lee made a
very tolerable Haley. The other characters hod no:hing
of importance to do, and seemed quite conscious
the fart, and the curtain at last felt without any demote,
striation either of applause or approbation on the part of I
the audience. The general verdict seemed to be that at '
least it was better than Jane Shore or George Barnwell,'
the usual Christmas dishes, and that that was as much as
could be eapected on boxiest night. rack Tom having
been at last sent, with all solemnity, to the s• place whet •
the good Biggers go," the eurtsin again rose 'en Ilarlepon
Ilial6rna or Old Dame IJPurden the droll Days apke
Merry .ilogoarrh. A wise foresight has already enabled the
readers of the Daily 3.eses to go to the pantomime
well up to the ia•ricacies of the clot; so we
will suppose them to know already all about the
s' abode ot antiquity" and the " genius of improve. cot,"
and how they met together by special appointimat for the
better regulation of mundane matters and the general ad-
vancement of the human race. All we shall say is that
antiquity had a very fitting abode, a uvular curiosity
shoo, and that the genius of improvement found a graceful
representative in Has Bromley, formerly of the Lyecum.i
Her first wave of the magic wand brought oat the " People's
Palace at Sydenham," a beautifully painted scene. which
was loudly and generally applauder,. The great Pant, a
eeplanalle seas the &awe( a grand bailer fardosligue,ezeeed-1
ingly well danced by the coryphees, and narrowly'
escaping an encore. The other scenes which were most
noticed were " the village of Stemware," a Au satiny land- j
wept., a view of Cheapside as it looked in 1660, and the
grand fairy tableaux, both of which were as gorgeous as I
anything ever produced at the Lyceum, and elicited the
warmest and must universal approbation For the spoken'
fun of the pantomime we rennet say much, as it was often
rather ',bemire, and the actors seemed sadly deficient in
their tarts. It is to be hoped that in future represeuta-
boas they will be more careful, and not by any
fault of theirs shipwreck a pies which evidently
hu cost the manager a very large sum of money.
The tumbling was unexceptionable, and the feats
of the brothers Siearist and of Devani astonished the
juveniles much. Mdlle. Lnui.e blanche was everything
thot could he wished in a Columbine ; and another young
lady, who figured as Harlequina, give her meet graceful
and effective assistance. Sons* compression will be neces-
sary in the introduction, and a great deal more ears in the
delivery of the dialogue; bat, these hints being attended to
there is sufficient attraction in the splendid scenery, and in
the ability of Use pantasnintisn proper, to ensure liarlertia
Iliselsbral a long and erespereas run.