The Press.
London, England, 1854-09-09 00:00:00

9,

1854.

857

"Mr. Smithson's coal•black wig,
}lad dandy, and half prig.
(Mom thunders of applause .9

" Pretty Luey's whited eyes,
Slaying waltzers as she tiles.
And Lady Ridley's turnip face,
In its cap of Irish lace.
All till up the farcicalsceas 0 !
(Reiterated short+, of applause !)
This is no invention of mine. These are some of the
lines (written down by me with scrupulous accuracy;
which produced applause so vehement as to make me al-
most fear that some cautious policeman might be induced
to stop and inquire what was the matter.
We will neither assume nor inquire whether
the elaborate sketch of Richards is intended
as a portrait. The vast applause bestowed on
extempore doggrel, as described iu the last
extract, is very ridiculous, yet in four or five
instances we have seen Mr. Richardses hailed
as marvels of impromptu rhyming power. We
were much amused with the specimen of the
genus as it appears in Mrs. Trollope's gallery
of " living characters."
Incidents which violate truth of nature, and
are only suited for farces, too often appear as
blemishes in Mt-s. Trollope's novels. The
fate of the " clever woman "—married to a
certain Cornelius Folkstone, a gentleman who
is finally handed over to the police—is out of
nature, and resembles too much the exaggera-
tions in other of Mrs. Trollope's works. Yet
the last scene is powerfully worked up, and
we shall extract a passage from the finale,
leaving our readers in suspense as to how the
" clever woman " got out of the gravest of her
" adventures" :
Cornelius waitei till the door was closed again, and
then he said, in a deep, deliberate voice, which she felt
to be more alarming than any violence, " Listen to me,
Mrs. Folkstone, and believe what 1 say, for much may
depend upon your doing so. I will have the money I ask
for ; will you immediately sign your name to this cheque ?
If you will, all will go smoothly again. lint if you
refuse to do it peaceably, I hereby give you notice that I
will make you. There is nobody in the house with us
except your crippled aunt, and the man who has now left
the room. He is my creature, and his life is already in
my power, from circumstances with which lamacqnsinted
concerning him. Think, therefore, for a moment before
you decide upon offering any further opposition to my will.
Take counsel from your common sense, Charlotte ; it will
be better for you."
There was something in this proceeding so very much
out of the common every-day course of civilised life, that
this appeal to her common sense settled the business at
once, at least so far as her will was concerned.
"You are quite right, sir," she replied. "It is to
my common sense that i must have recourse, and not to
any melodramatic effects in the hope of out-blustering
yours. I will not sign the cheque you demand of me, and
I will trust myself to the protection of English laws and
the vigilance of English police."
Cornelius made no reply; but it was now his turn to
ring the bell, and be did so ; but it was without any haste
or any violence. His faithful John could have been at no
great distance, for the door of the reom was opened before
the bell had ceased to vibrate.
"My dressing-room is ready, I presume ?" said the
mas.er.
" Yes, sir," replied the man.
" Then take the feet of your mistress in your hands,
while I take her head."
The twofold operation was performed in a moment, and
the mistress of the mansion was thus carried, without any
apparent violence, out of her dining•room.
But my heroine was not subject to fainting, or nervous
affections of any kind ; and, being therefore in perfect
possession of her senses, she waited till she found herself
in the passage, where, as being nearest to the house-door,
she thought she had the best chance of being heard, and
then and there uttered a very violent scream.
But it really seemed as if the law'ess individuals who
were thus treatuig her were so accustomed to acts of iio-
lence as to be aware of the probability of her giving this
species of alarm, for they both instantly responded to it
with so hearty and loud a laugh, that if a whole detach-
ment of the police had been parading before the door at
the time, they could not have suspected for a moment that
any thing ww:se than rather noisy merry-making was going
on within. '
At right angles to the door leading to the kitchen-stairs
there was in this house, as in many others, a door which
would infallibly have lead into the garden, if garden there
had been ; but, as there was none, the said door opened
upon a small room about twelve feet square, very comfort-
ably fitted up as a gentleman's dressing-room.
It contained a fireplace, dressing and washingapparatus,
a writing-table, an armchair, and moreover a sofa. And
this of the house ~ deposited.