The Express.
London, England, 1853-11-24 00:00:00

WEDNESDAY EVENING CONCERTS.

Last night was sadly unpropi!ions fors public

entertainment. A dense November fog—the streets so
dark as to ►e dangerous, and an atmosphere so damp and
heavy as to be almost unbreathable—wade leaving a com-
fortable fireside a matter of no small exertion. Exeter-hall,
consequently, was but thinly attended, though better than
we expected; mad the member of persons present spoke well
for the musical taste and spirit of the public.
The concert was called " A Night with Mendebwohn,"
and the first part consisted entirely of a selection from his
works. The pieces were well known to amateurs, for
what piste of Mendelesohn's is there that is not ? There
was first the fine descriptive overture, "A twin 644 and
peesprous voyage." Then Miss Birch sang, "Through
tie wood," and Mr. Suchet Champion gave a little German
song, said to be Mendelssohn's last composition ; neither of
which proved very effective. The charming duet, "The
May Bells," very nicely snug by Mies Birch and Mir
Stabbach, made a greater impression. Then came the
great performance of the evening—the grand pianoforte
Concerto in G minor, played by Mdlle. Clause in a style of
the most finished excellence, which enchanted every one.
At the end of the lovely slow movement, which, under
her fingers, is the most exquisite and expressive song that
can be imagined, the applause was so enthusiastic and pro-
longed, that she repeated the movement with, if possible,
still heightened effect. She left the orchestra amid reite-
rated cheers from every part of the hall, which brought her
back to renew the expression of her acknowledgments. She
lied intended to perform Mozart's concerto in I) minor, and
had prepared herself for doing so; but the plan of the con.
wet made a champ on her part necessary, and nothing more l
charming could have been chosen than this chef d'ostors of
Mendelsohn. We regret to learn that we are &bent to lase
for a Urns this charming young pianist, as she is going
to St. Petersburg, with the intention, however, of return-
ing to London in the spring. The grand symphony in A
major, called "the Italian Symphony," terminated the first
part of the concert. Mr. Benedict's admirable direction of
I the orchestra greatly enhanced the effect of Mendelssohn's
compositions.

The snood part, as usual, was a good miscellaneous
'election, chiefly of vocal music. The only thing calling
for notice was the debut of Madame Ansedei' a lady of con- '
tinental reputation, lately arrived here. She sang 'Luca-
dente'. eavatins, Se m'abbandoai," and the somewhat
hackneyed "II 'egret° per easer fence," and had a highly
favourable reception. She has a contralto voice of great
power, beautiful quality, and much more compass and Seal-
bility than usually belongs to voices of this register. Her
style is pare, add she sings with animation and warmth.
She would certainly be a great acquisition to our Italian
Opera; for contralto Bingen of her calibre are rarely to be
found.

DRAMA.

LYCEUM.

As well as the fog last evening would permit, a good
hawse witnessed the first npresentation of a more or lees
esigissl, mid more rather than less remarkable drama. The
Bachelor of Arth who gives the name to the piece, is an
Orford man—a bachelor in an academic as well as a social

sense--and his " arts" have a similarly doable application.
He is a spendthrift, a roue, a very dissipated, and very
amusing man, and a good-hearted fellow Lin spite of every
drawback—he is, in fact, Mr. Charles Mathews. The
gentleman in question (theatrically be is Mr. Harry Jasper)
has taken aneeceatrie fit at the commencement of the piece,

and in the spirit of a philosophic vagabond, who has been
pursuing novelty and losing cash, answers an advertisement
for a private tutor. The advertiser proves to be an old friend
of the applicant's father; humours him; and, in fact, en.
gages him. Jasper is accordingly installed in the family,
in which he effects an entire revolution. During the ab-
sence of its head (theatrically Mr. Thornton, and repre-
sented by Mr. Basil Baker), who has such confidence in his
new tutor, that he leaves him as master of the house, ap-
pearances are certainly against him. He leads his pupil
into a duel, introduces a young lady of objectionable cha-
racter into the family, trifles with the affections of the
daughter of the house, displays himself in a state of absurd

intoxication, end is otherwise eccentric. The return of his
patron at the crisis exposes this iniquity, but exposes it
only to place the character of the culprit in the
highest light:—he has in fact effected what the audience
has seen throughout—he has released his pupil from the
. . .

snares of a dangerous mistress; through the medium of the
same young lady he has exposed the true character of an
assi is la /liaison, who was laying siege to his patron's
wife ; and moreover, he hu—by a noble and very novel
niece of aeltinerifice—dvlivered his patron from the meshes
of a money-lender, who has held a family secret involving
the honour of everybody. lie vindicates himself in fact
from every charge brought against him (even from the
drunkenness, which was assumed), and takes leave of the
audience while on the eve of marrying the lady of his ap-
propriate affections.

The story of the piece is too complicated to relate in
detail. We have indicated it here, and.need only add, that
it is worth knowing better. The piece, in fact, is puzzling
and peculiar ; and leaves an impression of incompleteness,
which is common enough when the effect is produced by
ingenuity rather than a sentimental interest. The Game of
Spesslionsess sad The Lawyers belong to the same elms.
They way balk sneeessful—the former especially—end so
was the pieee abet evening, which makes it evident that
the pablie do not ear* to have its heart touched, so long as
Its bend is amused. The piece gave occasion for some very
good acting, especially on the part of Mr. Charles Mathews,
who was, as we said before—Mr. Charles Mathews. His
namesake, Mr. Frank, as the scoundrel—that is to say, the
money lender--esek higher ground than is usual with him.
Of Mime Frames Hughes, who made her first appearance
here, it is al/o& to say much—she had so little to do.
Bat she looked highly aesamentsl, whisk is always a good
beginning. At the clew, tie apishness was rapturous, and
(Wades tile chasestina), the avithor was loudly
called limn M. Mathews mamma the pieta to be sa
adaptation fres the French, by Mr. Palk= Hardwick,—
a sawn which was received with great favour, but con-
siderable incredulity.

ANCIENT AND MODERN SHIPS.

At a meeting of the Institution of Glyn Engineers,
en Tuesday lest, Mr. J. M. RIME, the President,
in the chair, the subject of ocean steamers we. introduced
by a paper read by Mr. A. Henderson, who indulged in
some ululating respecting the eempsstive bulk of the
most famous vessels of antiquity sad of oar own times. A
ship eustrneted by Ptoleateos Philopater was 420 feet
long, 88 broad, and 72 high from the keel to the prow,
and it was awed by 4,000 rowers, 400 servants, sod
2,820 marines. It was estimated, therefore, that this ves-
sel had a tonnage of 6,445 tons, builder's suasunment, and
an =ternsl bulk of 880,700 cubic feet. Noab's ark would
haves tonnage el 11,905, and • bulk of 1,580,000 cubic
feet. With these were contrasted Ike Great Western,
_ _

1,242 teas, 161,100 cubic foot ; Groat Britain, 3,445 tons,
446,670 cubic fest ; Arctic (American packet), 2,745 tons,
366,333004 fest ; Hytualaya, 8,628 too, 457,332 cubic
feet; sad calculating by the same rake. taldng Ike Akan-
gess given's the prospectus of the ileiNem Olsen Iffeed-
gatin Company, their proposed km doh Eva
this
2,973,593 cubic fest. It was, however, MOM Sot this
need was intended to be 10,000 Ow so.kasz,
which might be correct if it was bulk ma the
cellular eyelerm, and was measured Mesmer ti
the preset law. In the coarse of the Merman
The eillest eff heavy was open Tomsk of 400 to 600 feat kag
was esaeiiMesd- The waves of the Atlantic were stated by
sem miptains of American " liners " to attain an elevation
of able* 99 feet, with a length of 100 feet, and a velocity of
II to SO miles per hour. Dr. Scoresby, in his paper ea
"LAMM Waves," gave about the same MIS
/NOS ant k rather a bard gale a-bead. Os one nee-
herd gale and heavy squalls, some few waves
stWi a height of 43 feet, with a length of nearly 000
bee, sad &vanity exceeding 30 miles an hour. Other an-
*irides amerced even more than those heights and dis-
tances. The amount of strength, to resist the impact of
mesh waves, must vary with the length and size of a ship,
and the materials of which it was constructed ; and as
the experience of the Britannia Bridge showed that a
weight of 460 tons, at a velocity of 30 minces per hour, could
be borne by • cellular tube of 460 feet span, it was
demisasfasted. that by the use of iron almost any amount of
strength eould be given to a vane!, and as stability could
be Imparted by proper proportions, efficient vessels could be
built of any dimensions, as bad been exemplified by the
Great Britain, which, alter remaining ashore on rooks
for several months, had been got off without serious in-
jury. There were, however, objections to the use of iron
alone for vessels, therefore many other systems had been
easayed, such as all English oak, pine of large scantling,
three thicknesses of diagonal planking, and iron framing
with stout planking, this last combination with the
addition of fors and aft ties and watertight bulk-
heads, was advocated for efficiency and economy.
The proportions of about six breadths for the length were
insisted upsu, and it was noticed that these were given no
the dimensions of Noah's ark, as recorded in Holy Writ.
The proper proportion of length to breadth for an efficient
ocean steamer was, however, an intricate question. Tak-
ing the Wave Queen as an sample ; the length of that
vessel had been stated to be thirteen times her beam ; now
such proportions might answer well for the Rive:libitum.,
and a great speed might be attained, but such a vessel
would, under certain circumstances, be unfit to navigate
the British Channel. The same might be said of the
American river steamers, which were reported to have
attained almost fabulous rates of velocity ; but such pro-
portions as theirs, if attempted in ocean steamers, would
only induce failure and loss of the vessels in heavy gales in
the open ocean.