The Press.
London, England, 1854-01-14 00:00:00

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Castelbnuotate. Westerton.
The Little Duke. J. W. Parker and Son.
Zohrdb; and other POO7lll. W. T. Thornton. Longman, Brown,
and Co.
The Churehlllllll'S Year Buok. G. Cox.
Florence the Beautiful. A. 11. Cochrane. Burst and Blacked.
The Cross ITIAUS Crescent.
The Past and Present Ministries. T. ilarrhion.
...

The Story <tfAurient Nineveh. W. Freeman.
Comm of (treat Britain ; Religions Worship. gyro and Spouts-
woode.
J. C. Colquhoun, Esq. T. Hatehard.

On National Education.

The Varietiee qf Temperature. 8. Parlby.
The Te.lers Tented. law.. F. Close.

1)1W).
I)itto.

Woe with Bassin. H. Lister. Simpkin and Marshall.
National Education in Reottand. J. Hope. A. C. Moodie.
Progresso, Russia in the Eaet. J. Murray.
Clime to the Grand Jury at the Quarter Seasione for Kingeton-
SpOIIoHYIII. S. Warren, D.C.L. W. Blackwood and Sons.
Kew Mimic.

- -
Christian Layo. No. 1. Composed by U. A. Mad:wren. RUA
and Co.

ttt prama.

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

THE new play, The Begging Letter, which we noticed
last week, having been placed on the shelf—possibly
consigned to the dead-letter office—a new piece called
The Ladrone's Daughter was produced on Monday
last. By way of second title the play is designated
Paula Lazaro, such being the name of the heroine,
who, however, in spite of the playbill, is not a la-
drone's daughter at all. Her father was once a
respectable nobleman of Estremadura, but, having
had his castle wracked and wife murdered by a cer-
tain Marquis Tavero, dresses as a mendicant, and
nurses plans of vengeance for eighteen years, during
which period, with a remaining daughter as his
companion, he wanders about the neighbourhood of
his ruined château, where of course nobody recog-
nises him. In the meanwhile the sinful marquis has
died; but he has left a son, and that son has found
a daughter—so Lazaro supposes—and therefore
plans to carry her off
, choosing for that purpose, in
order to make his revenge more bitter, the very night
of a fête given in anticipation of her nuptials with
Pablo, a worthy muleteer. This plan he carries into
effect by aid of his friends, the ladrones, Anglice
thieves—and very ordinary thieves they are, com-
manded by a leader endowed with the ordinary su-
pernatural qualities of a bandit chief. He goes every-
where in thin disguises, knows everything, strikes a
whole company into panic by showing a pistol, and can
always crowd the stage with ruffians upon blowing his
whistle. How Lazaro's vengeance recoils upon Inni•
self ; how Joanna turns out not to be the marquis's
daughter, but his own; how Paula tries to save
ber before knowing their sisterhood, and really
succeeds in saving her afterwards ; how Pablo the
muleteer is the true heir to the marquisate ;
how the ladrone chief is shot by a comic barber ; and
how a file of soldiers jump up at the back of the last
scene, and fire a promiscuous volley which kills
Lazaro and no one else just before the curtain
falls—may be easily conceived by the experienced
in melodramatic contrivances. The piece belongs
to the same school as the superseded Begging Letter,
but is a better specimen of the class. There is
some sparkle in the dialogue, and some neatness in
the construction of the play. It also introduced to
the Drury Lane audience Mr.. T. Mead, au actor
who has acquired much reputation in melodrama at
the Surrey, and who promises to become an equal
favourite in his new areas.

THE PRESS.