The Press.
London, England, 1856-01-12 00:00:00

Byron's Poetical Works.

Vol. 111. "Murray's

British Classics." London : Murray.
THIS volume, in its editing, deserves the praise we
'bestowed upon its predecessors. The introductory
notices to the various pieces contain appropriate mat-
ter expressed tersely. Lord Byron has a most
enthusiastic admirer in his editor ; but we think that
the opinions of Lord Jeffrey are too much reverenced
by him. That Jeffrey was a neat and graceful
writer—that he was an excellent reviewer, and that
he had a highly versatile intellect—may be readily
admitted without according to him any high place
araungit critics properly so called. He had neither

THE PRESS.

the weighty sense of Johnson, the subtlety of Cole-
ridge, nor the masculine vigour and scholarship of
Hallam. He never appreciated Shelley or Words-
worth ; he was a bigot in the school of Frenchitied
criticism ; the present editor of By ron should
recollect how Jeffrey, even in his collected reviews,
places Crabbe at the head of the poets of his time !
It is irritating, after some splendid passage, to be
referred to a footnote, and read (as at p. 277)—in
the " Prisoner of Chilton "—" The gentle decay and
" gradual extinction of the youngest life is the most
" tender and beautiful passage in the poem." The
editor, before quoting such a platitude, should recol-
lect Sydney Studio's "Jeffrey is here with his adjec-
tives." The words "tender and beautiful" do nut
fit that admirable passage (the eighth), for it nearly
commences with the powerful lines :

Oh, God ! it is a fearful thing
To see the human 13.1ul take wing
In any shape, in any mood:
I've seen it rushing forth in blood,
I've seen it on the breaking ocean
Strive with a swoln convulsive motion,
I've seen the sick and ghastly bed
Of Sin delirious with its dread.
If he bad written that the whole passage was
thrilling, Jeffiey would have used a more critically
appropriate word. Then we turn the page, and come
upon the celebrated tenth passage :

A light broke in upon my brain—
It was the carol of a bird, &c.

Many would think that to be more " beautiful " than
the preceding one.
The present volume includes " The Giaour,"
"Bride of Abydos," "Corsair," " Lara," "The Siege
of Corinth," " Parisina," " Beppo," " Prisoner of
Chillon," " Mazeppa," and "The Island." We shall
reserve till the last volume our general estimate of
Byron's fixed position amongst our great poets.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.-JAN. 10.

BOOKS.

Letters from the United States, Cuba, and Canada. Hon.
Miss Amelia M. Murray. J. W. Parker and Son.
The Englishwoman in America. Murray.
Poems. Walter It. Cassels. Smith and Elder.
Antler!: Spanish Ballads, Historical and Romantic. J. G.
Lockhart, Esq. Murray.
The Pilgrimage, and Other Poems. The Earl of Ellesmere.
Ditto.
The nramatic Works of William Shakspeare. In Ten
Volumes. Vol Pell and Daldy.

The Practical Stenographer. K Soper. Darton and Co.
Narrative of the Niger, Tsheutda, and Binue Exploration.
Longman&
M'intosh's and Kemp's British Year-Book for the Coo nt,:g,

Ditto.
Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory for 1856.
Ditto.

PAMPHLETS.

of the Civil Service.

Hatchard.

On the Right Management of the Voice in Speaking and
Reading. Bosworth.
How to Save Half Your Coals. Marlborough.
Convent Visitation. J. .T. Chenoweth. H. Batty.
What Next, and Next ? Ridgway.
Prize Essay on Canada and her Resources. Sampson, Lowe,
and Son.
Canada. An Essay. Ditto.
Bore Zbqin Polske. Chapman and Hall.
Tracts for the Present Crisis. Second Series, No. 1
Bartlett.

4 Critical Dictionary of English Literature.
Peterson and Son.
The Position and Prospects of Ireland. Ridgway.
Addresses, delivered at Manchester, Lee ls, and Birmingham.
Earl Stanhope. Murray.
A Letter to the Bight Hon. Dr. Lushington. Ditto.
Speech of Malcolm Levin, Esq. Stanford.
The Preaching of Christ. J. A. St. John.
Chapman and Hall.
Death• Bed Canticles. A Dying Clergyman. Longmans.

PERIODICALS.
The Post Magazine Atmanack for 1856. Pateman.
Freemasons' Magazine •nd Masonic Mirror. Warren.
Macphail's Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Journal.
Simpkin and Marshall.
The Ifonthly Review. J. Mitchell .
The Electric Review. Ward and Lock.

PRESCOTT, THE HISTORIAN.—I was 1-bOWII up into
a drawing room exquisitely furnished, and surrounded
with bookcases, the walls between which were orna-
mented with choice prints. In a few minutes a door
behind one of the bookcases opened, and a most
pleasing, gentlemanly looking man, of slight figure,
stepped forth, and, cordially holding out his hand, led
me to a sofa, and we at once entered into an animated
conversation on various topics of interest. Most
people in England are under the impression that Mr.
Prescott is blind. Such is not the case. Although
from an injury received at college his eyesight
became so weak that he is afraid to exert it, and
therefore writes with the machine used by the blind,
he can see with perfectly sufficient clearness to dis-
tinguish people and to enjoy society to the utmost;
indeed, no defect in his sig' It is discoverable to the
ordinary observer.—Kingston's Western Wanderings.

43

htsir.

HANOVER-SQUARE ROOMS.
MME. GOLDSCHMIOT'S CONCERT.

A CONCERT of miscel'aneous music was given by
Mme. Goldschmidt at the Hanover-square Rooms,
on Thursday evening. The audience was brilliant,
and every available seat filled. The great
attraction of the evening was the announcement that
Jenny would sing several of her most pop liar airs.
As she has previously only been heard in sacred
music since her return, there was great expectation
to hear how she would acquit herself in the class of
compositions in which she first gained her popu-
larity. The pieces chosen were i different st)les,
but well adapted to display her peentiar talent. The
prayer of Agatha from the Freischiitz ; the grand
scena from Beatrice ; the arrangement of tour
mazurkas by Chopin for voice and I iano by her hus-
band, Herr Goldschrnidt; with "John Anderson, my
jo," and the Swedish " Echo song," constituted an at •
tractive programme. Whatever doubt might have
been previously entertained as to her unimpaired
possession of not only her vocal gifts, hut her
dramatic power, must have been dispelled by her
execution of these various pieces. Perhaps never
in the course of her brilliant career has she been
heard to greater advantage than on this occasion,
from the contrasted character of the selection. The
devotional feeling and saintly aspiration of the
prayer, giving the idea of angelic harmony, and ex-
quisitely phrased in the original German, was suc-
ceeded by the animated composition Df Bellini. In
this fine scene the genius of the dramatic artist
shone forth with admirable power. It was im ossilde
to mistake her vocation while listening to her, (r
doubt the part which Nature intended her to
fill. As this piece proved her power, the selecti• n
from the mazurkas tested her taste. Nothing coo d
be more delicate than her appreciation and render-
ing of the etherial sentiment of this imaginative
composition. With a skill only to be understood
when heard, she seemed to seize the floating
melody, to detain it for the moment necessary to
give it distinct expression, and in that moment to fix
it in the memory there like a magic spell to live for
ever. The delicacy of Herr Ooldschmidt's accompani-
ment could not be surpassed ; the voice and the piano
were never blended in happier union. The Scotch ballad
was in itself' a domestic drama of most touching and
plaintive loveliness. In this simple ballad the story
of a life found melodious expression,—the opening
animated and cheerful,—the sentiment growing
graver and di eper as it proceeded,—until the close
melted the soul with sadness. The "Echo song" shelv-
ed the marvellous mechanism of her organ, and her
perfect command over it. All the accessories of the
concert were excellent; the performance of Herr
Goldschmidt was marked by fine perception and exe-
cutive brilliancy ; the orchestra, leddby M. Benedict,
was well ordertd ; and the pieces sang by Herr
Reichardt agreeably contributed to the entertain-
ment of the evening.