The Express.
London, England, 1847-04-06 00:00:00

LITERATLRE.
Tanered.

Thousands will read this book, for Mr. Disraeli's
reputation is deservedly great ; but not twenty of
those thousands will be either edified or amused by
it. The first volume contains the usual baiting of the
trap for the goi)emouches of the circulating, library.
It presents the picture of a duke and a duchess, a
princely mansion and domain, fine and fashionable
company, with an insight into their cookery and domes-
tic habits. Sack is the bill of entertainment which
Mr. Disraeli hangs before the door of his caravan, to
entice the humble and numerous adorers of high
English life to step in. No sooner, however, have
they entered, and the door been closed behind them,
than they are treated to a Judaic mystery, made up
of personages, scenes, events, religion, and philosophy,
all as unnatural, irrational, impossible, uninteresting,
and disgusting, as can be conceived.
Take Lord Palmerston's Blue Book on Syria—a
'subject on which we have been too well wearied ever to
recur to; take, at the same time, Lady Hester Stan-
hope's monstrous compound of vanity and folly, which
she had the audacity to represent as a religion.
Mingle and shake these together till the slight ele-
ments of fact in the one be utterly lost in the turbid
falsehood of the other, and the compound will give
you the last two volumes of Tancred.
The English politics with which Mr. Disraeli
has hitherto seasoned his novels had at least the
claim of being apropos, of having a moral and a
meaning. But the polities of Syria! the old stupid
intrigues of Maronite and Drage, and the interests
of the house of Skehab—to warm np tins very cold
and dirty hash for us in the year 1847, is really un-
pardonable on the part of a chef of literary cookery.
The most unnatural and contemptible bore through-
out the whole universe of post octavos is indisputably
Mr. Disraeli's " Fakradeen.

If the politics be stale and insipid, what shall we
say of the sentiment? For the only attempt at
passion or feeling in these volumes are two or three
dandified and lukewarm attempts at being ena-
moured, unsuccessfully made by the hero of the tale ;
andtheseare performed obligato, like certain flourishes
of the tenor in every opera, as pretty as usual, but as
devoid of originality or force. As to the sudden
passion of Astarte for Tattered, which alone affords
an incident, and gives a shove to the author to ena-
ble him co reach the end of his third volume, it is
too comical and absurd to be borne seriously, although
the facts of the Blue Book are brought in to vouch
for its veracity.
And what is the philosophy of this pretentious
work ? It is evidently that the civilization and the
forms of religion and government, founded upon
Christianity and freedom, are effae, that the British
constitution is a humbug, that British piety is a farce ;
and that England has need of a new Avatar, to be
made by the genius of Arabia, which is to replace the
bench of bishops by a theocracy, the representative
system by a ckspotismo illustratio, like that of the
caliphs, and the House of Peers by the Sanhedrin.
For the Jews, as an ancient people, we entertain a
mystic reverence. To the Jews, as a modern race,
we would extend every civil privilege and every reli-
gious tolerance. But our mystic reverence for Jewry
closes with the commencement of our era. To seek
to enhance what they were before that time were as
conspicuous a piece of impertinence as Mr. Disraeli's
attempt to " write up" Moses in the pages of a novel.
Hitherto in no country of the world have Jews
been citizens, or been allowed to feel as such. They
have been parked out and excluded from respect,
from government, from land, and honours; and where,
as in Poland, they have been allowed to form exclu-
sively the middle class, it has been found that for poli-
Seal and social purposes and progress, each land
might as well have been without any middle class
at all, for the Jews there were not citizens. Let us
make citizens of this people—honoured citizens. But
let us look elsewhere for political, or moral, or philo-
sophic grades.
Mr. Disraeli in politics is something of a doctri-
naire. He would rule society by its capacities. But
he differs from the French doctrinaires in this, that
whilst they consider talent as the sole capacity, he
considers race to be the great title to predominance.
Mr. Disraeli upholds the right of the Saxon to oust I
the Celt, the white to domineer over the black ; and
after having arranged his " races" in the order of their
rank, he would put the foot of the Arab Jew over all,
as the original lord and master. His modest proposal
is evidently to dethrone Louis Philippe and Queen
Victoria, in order to put Sheik Ismael and Sheik
Omar in their places. And as these are and must be
the humble servants of the Baron de Rothschild, it is
quite plain in what part of London Mr. Disraeli would '
establish his seat of empire. His aim is evidently to
re-establish the money-changer, once more in posses-
sion
of the temple.
All this is palpably absurd if we consider it as a
code of political philosophy. What are we to say of ,
it, if it be the mere vanity of self-illustration? If it '
be setting up race against race, the Caucasian against
the Norman,—if it be the crushed and humbled pride
of the English Israelite, vindicating his ancient birth
against the haughty superciliousness of an aristocracy,
and appealing to the genealogies of Moses against
those of Doomsday Book—what is this, but com-
bating illiberal prejudices by prejudices of the same
kind, more gross and more irrational? If we want
te protest against the overweening pretensions of
birth, let us do so by appealing to the natural equa-
lity in rights, endowments, and intellect, of all man-
kind. If we take our stand against an aristocracy,
let us do so in the name of humanity. But to combat
the outrageous arrogance of one race by the mon-
strous exclusiveness of another, is merely perpetua-
ting the gross tomfoolery of our social creed. Mr.
Disraeli's former novels gave promise of better
things than are to be met with in the philosophy of
Tattered.

IFtur arts.
}AMBITION OP ME LOUVRE.
Crowds flock daily up the steps of the Louvre, and
rush on the catalogue as their guide ; they drop an exclama-
tion of surprise, as they miss therein the names of their
favourite masters, and ask why Decamps, Delaroche, Meis-
sonier, Scheffer, Cabat, J. Dupri, and so many others are
absent ? but the specimens of new and rising talent soon
reconcile them to the loss of the absentees.
The first small room, instead of its homely suit ot
trecentistes, assumes the somewhat gaudy garb of 1847.
That clever picture of Andrea del Sart° painting the fresco
of the " Madonna del Sacco," by Baron, covers a Pietro
Verne:el ; this is enough to startle the shades of Perugino or
Guit landaio' his neighbour; but let us follow their example,
and wait till time remedies that enormity, the annihilation
of se many clufs-d'..eurres for five months in the year. M.
Couture, who attracted notice some four years ago with his
" Amour de ler," since then confined himself in his atelier,
and has brought to !Wit the " Remains dt la Decadence."
The subject is inspired from Juvenal's sixth Satire—
hesior . . . emus
Luxuria ineubuit, netum one elder:sitar orbem.
The creative power he doubtless what distinguishes high
art from low art, and that M. Couture possesses to a high
degree; his picture is • powerful protest against the material
tendencies of the day. Somewhat more is required of the
painter than poking into Plutarch, the Bible, or the old
chroniclers, and finding subjects ready cut and dried.
M. Couture not only invents his picture, but its sub-
ject. In a spacious hall or atrium, supported by Corin-
thian columns, are spread the preparation for the feast.
Between the pillars, statues of stern old Romans frown on
the revellers, and contrast nobly with their fallen progeny ;
that of Brutus seems to recall the time when one couch was
reserved for the women, another for the men : here they mix
promiscuously, bringing in contact fair and dark skins; in
the centre a recumbent female figure reminds one of the
Phidian statue, even to the colour of the plaster. A.
damsel tries to rouse gorged and drowsy Vitellius ; on the
left a masterly Fawn raises the cup—this noble disciple of
Bacchus is perhaps the finest figure. Morality has its corner,
and saves what else might be repulsive. A poet resting on
one of the pedestals, laments over this scene of debauchery ;
on the right two philosophen look on scornfully ; behind
them a youth presents the overflowing cup to a may be
marble Seneca. All these groups are painted with a boldnein
which the old masters scarce allowed themselves in their old
age. Vases, up-set and enwreathed with flowers, form the
foreground. The silvery grey which pervades the whole is
pleasing. The pictures around it suffer dreadfully from the
contra,t. R. Lehmann's Pope Pius V. blessing the Pontine
Msrshess, which would elsewhere look warm, here looks
buttery. The figure of the Pops is floe. In the Volwian
mountains, near that nest of brigands, Sonnino, Is a rock
which, to this day, is called "11 iaise di papa Saito," (niche!
Sixtus V). After the vast undertaking of drainage. he cams
there with all his court to consecrate lus work by is solemn
benediction. All inhabitants of the surrounding country
flocked to this unique scene; even the brigands surren-
dered in hopes of absolution. This forms • remarkable
picture : we observe the profiles of the painter and his brother
modestly put in the corner. Talent seems this year to have
taken refuge chiefly in small canvases, and especially in those
of E. Delacroix. It is a pity that " Morbidezza " is almost
as hacknied a term in ertatical criticism as " Angel " in
romance, for it is the only word for Delacroix. He is a sort
of half-and-half between the Dutch and Italian schools,
wanting the patience of the former and the soberness of the
latter. His" Christ on the Cross," his" Abandoned Boat,"
give artistieal pain ; the " Musicians of Mogador " bring
back pleasure: we cannot say as muck of his purple
"Odalisque." He has also " Martial exercises of the
Marocceese," the most outlandish canters, firing_ of guar,
impossible draperies. One person exclaims, " Why, hes
making game of us!" the next, "The colour is very fine :"
those remarks form the best criticism. Theophile Gauthier
says Marilhat would be proud of that green beck-ground--
we however deny it.
Diaz leads one through a sylvan maze where small
blue dots of sky admit large dots of sun ; yet these
sketches, at a distance, assume the appearance of nature, and
its poetry too. Horace Vernet astoniehes the multitude
by the dexterity and truth of Louis Philippe, his sons,
and hones,—the latter by far the noblest. Robert Fleury
brings us before the council. Grim-visaged Galileo abjures
his apparent contradiction of the Bible before the council
and yet cannot help exclaiming " epur si mullet." This is
a tale which does not belong to the brush, and Robert
Fleury's talent scarce makes it interesting. The same may
be said of his " Christopher Columbus presenting the inhabe
tants of the new world to Ferdinand and Isabella." It is
refreshing to turn from these burnt skins and unwashed
visages to Winterhalter's pretty studies,—hie •• Tete de
Femme" is delicate and beautifully coloured. Adolphe
and Armand Leleux are two brothers, whose styles
have a family likeness, but are marked with a differen
character—the general law of nature. Adolphe revels in
midsday—in picturesque Spanish shepherds, with their
swarthy limbs and bright waistbands. Armand prefers
broad and darker effects the last rays of the sun illumine
a scene of charity •, two meat raffianly-looking villains are
the eleemosynary object' of a woman returning on her hors*
from market; the breadth and intensity of colour are re-
markable. Guillemin sparkles here and there in the gaß'ry,
indulging both in humour and pathos. In the " Evening
prayer," the sinking sun illumines the cheeks of a boy and
girl praying; the cows are lowing this composition is simple
and touching. Jacquand unites succesefelly Terburg and
Delaroehe—" Henrietta Maria and her children requesting
an interview will Charles are unmercifully refused by Cornet
Joice," very pretty colour, draperies, boots, light of the pipe,
are capital ; but „Twee is a regular Frenchman. A. Hesse
(so successful a few years ago an' Titian's Interment") has
sent a sort of pendant, "the Triumphs of Pisani." Them
figures seem as if steeped in ink. How singular and lament-
able the sudden stop in art, and, unfortunately, how frequent !
The " Birth of Henri 1V.," by Eug. Deveria, was announced
as • work of promise, yet be this year reproduces no more
than a feeble reminiscence of it,—" The Death of Jane Sey-
mour after EdwardVl's birth." D. Pape ty is another instance.
There are fewer large pictures than usual: whether
owing to all provincial churches being fall, or to people
being tired of martyrdom and crucifixions, we know not.
A work of real vigour is that of " A Grecian boy and girl
gazing on a cock-fight ;" their snimation is quite wonderful.
The picture is by L. Demme., we believe a pupil of Delsroche,
who might be proud of having it proclaimed in the cata-
logue, if this custom of the " empire " had not fallen into
disuse. Blanchard's landscapes are clever but opaque.
Oudin's subject is the discovery of the St. Lawrence,
seemingly flowing with milk and water ; the savages in
the fore-ground give an air of reality to the scene
though the rest of the picture tends rather to the:
Turnerian. Portraits represent, as usual, the ugliest part
of the Parisian population—with the exception of that of an
old gentleman by Flandrin, which is remarkably well..
drawn, stern, and real. He is the author of the " Napoleon Li-
gialateur," which may as well be left unmentioned. Ibra-
him Pacha and the Bey of Tunis leave tracts of their passage:
Champmartin has been the immortaliser of the modern Yet.
Some masterly drawings by Yvon represent Russian scenes:
the most forcible is the " Route to Siberia," and • " Tartar
Mosque." Nothing has been spared—chalk, lead, water-
colour' and brown paper the effect is very successful. IL
Picots has a drawing of the "Children of the Nile." These
is a breath of " naif prod'-hoinme air about it, which strongly
recals the Corregglo of the French school : they are prettily
drawn, and forebode something in future from if. Picou.
On looking over the catalogue, we find we have omitted
a host of Judith*, more or less brandishing Prolophernes's
beads accompanied by yatagans. That by. Ziegler has a
leather girdle, a leathern paletot, which Is prepoitereus
enough; but why a leather akin? In that by Vernet,
mental struggle is still depicted in the countenance, although
the deeds done, and that savagely too : she is covered with
blood, and drops the head in a wonted basket. Camille
Roqueplan comes to our rescue ; his " Peasants of the
Pyrenees" are full of character. Not less successful is his
small landscape of the Spanish frontier. Biers!, in whom
the via cornice was formerly so strong, is not so good as
usual. His "Salon at four o'clock," • supposed caricature
falls short of reality—from the keen admiration of the:
cognoscenti, to the open-mouthed bourgeois.
'Mt Mrama.

- -
Dauftlf-LANE.—IAM night the long announced
" Grand Oriental Spectacle," entitled " The Desert, or, the
Imsura's Daughter," was presented to the holiday visitors of
this once national temple of the legitimate drama. The
primary object of the management would seem to be the in-
troduction to a Lowlon audience of Mr. Hughes's establish-
ment of elephants, camels, homes, ponies, and bipeds. In
the provinces, we believe, Mr. Hughes has pursued for some
time a most profitable career, and itis perhaps to be regretted
that be should have quilted the scenes of his successes.
This regret is justified by the equivocal soccer—not to say
failure—of the production of last night. Regarding the
spectacle only as the basis of zoological cavalcades, it would
be a waste of time and space to enter upon its dramatic con-
struction. It is more than enough to announce that a cer-
tain Princess, the Imaum's daughter (Mn. Mermen!), while
engaged in her devotions at the grand temple of
Mecca, is summoned by the envoys of her illse-
trious progenitor to attend him forthwith at hie
palace on the Euphrates, preparatory to her union►
with the Prince of Persia. whom she has of course
never seen. The Priam of Persia has visited Mecca
in the disguise of a minstrel, in order to see his intended
bride, and is present when the imperial edict arrives. Thug
disguised, he easily acquires a knowledge of the intentions
of a band of Bedouins, of which Barek (Mr. W. R. Payne)
is the chief, and resolves to follow the march of the caravan.
as the guardian and protector of the princess. The caravan
sets forth, and on its halt for the night is surprised by the
Bedouins. A conflict ensues, which, however, is interrupted
by the appearance of the " anima), or the wind of fire,"
which, wsth the rising of the sand, puts an end to the ow.
slaught, and make* an effective termination of the first
act. In the second act, the minstrel caution's his devoted
watch over his fair inamorata, and racists her from the as-
sault of the Bedouin chief. Eventually, she is brought in
safety to the Euphrates, when the minstrel declares himaelt
to be the prince, and the " lovers are made happy." Suds
are the slender materials of which the dramatic coition of
the spectacle is composed, and a production more destitute,
&any redeeming point it never was our lot to witness. We
must, except, however, from this condemnation, those necee-
sary adjuncts to a spectacle—the music and the seep
The former consisted pnncipally of an adaptation, by Mr. e.
H. Tully, of Pendell David's symphony " Le Desert,"
performed a few seasons back at Her Majesty's Theatre.
Though the solos were effectively sung by Miss Messent.
Mr. Rafter (the minstrel Prince), and Milli Rebecca Imam,
the character of the original music is too lunbrious to
befit an Easter holiday piece. The scenery by Grieve anti
Telbin, however, was everything that could be desired. The
progress of the second act was frequently interrupted by the
aibilations of dawn, tents, and at the fall of the curtain the
rivalry between the contents and nen-contents was tre-
mendous. We left them in conflict; but whichever party
triumphed we venture to opine that the spectacle (to use the

I

language of one of our witty living dramatists) will " make
a desert of the British stage." The opera of " Maritima,"
with the original cost, preceded the spectacle. The house
was well attended.
- - - - . •

Etrmsager.—Easter was kept at this house right
royally. Little boys and old boys, grandmammas and greed-
daughters, all had their holiday, and together they filled pit,
boxes, and gallery, as only pit. boxes, and gallery are filled
641 such holiday and merry-making anniversaries. Novelty
being the greet desideratum, Mr. Phoebe bad provided for
the audience an entirely new extravaganza, the main subject
of which was the entirely " New Planet." The mode, how-
ever, by which the public were enabled to view this planet
had in it less novelty than the planet itself. E.:Metal-
bqg it "unpleasant to be thus found out," the
Planet (impersonated by Miss P. Horton) calls a
meeting of her sister and brother stars to consider the
best mode of meeting the difficulties of her position. It is
deterMiiod, after much debate and some squabbling among
the ladies, to make a transit to the earth at once. Mercury
(Bitekstone), undertaking, in the guise of Harley/dos,
to lead the way and show the lions. Transported,
in the twinkling of a star, to our great metropolis,
the gods and goddesses find here ample food for wonder
on the one hand, and far ridicule on the other.
" London by Night," as seen at the Colosseum, excites
their admiration, as well it mar, for a more perfect scene has
rarely been sit at this theatre. From the Colosseum they pro-
eeed to the Polytechnic, where Mars (Bland) is anxious to ex-
amine the gun cotton; and then to the Egyptian Hall, where
Vona (Miss Julia Bennett) hears unpleasant stories of herself
from the Mysterious Lady. Subsequently they have an inter-
view with the serenaders, Ethiopian and Lantum, with the
"Bondman" of Drury-lane, and the " GiseLes" of the Opera
and minor houses, with the only real and original Nornsa
eireted to appear at Govent Garden, and with various
living statues of celebrity expected speedily to disappear front
other places. This is the entire substance of the piece, which,
slight in itself, is not so amply filled up by detail
as several previous pieces by the same author. Buck-
eting', as harlequin, has some opportunity of being funny,
and Miss Horton has a lay about Jenny Lind, to the tune of
" Molly Sawn," which, in its way, is nilmirable. One of
the steam from" Norma," too, is very humorously traves-
tied, Miss Reynolds parodying the peculiarities of
Grid with great success. There is also a inorceau to the
tune of the post-horn plop, in which Bland comes out in
mighty
store.. The poses plasliques, the Drury lane Desert,
the Cannes, &c., come in for their share of ridicule; but
them is somewhat over much about railway shares, the Ethio-
piens, and the statues—all of which have been done to death
long ago. Two or three terrible blunders on the pert of the
machinists—whose scenery in some cases fixed itself in the
wrong places with extreme ty—also aimed the piece,
as we may say, to move wly. There was an unpleasant
accident, too, to one of the Wills in the ()hello wear. Her
dress caught fire as she was leaving the stage, and
biased for a couple of seconds fiercely. The flame
was extinguished instantly, and the poor girl was not, we
sanderstend, seriously injured; but the incident caused
alarm, and the doubt which was felt as to the result, left an
uapleeesnt impression. Is it inappropriate to ask whether
something might not be done to prevent these occurrences,
now becoming unfortunately not infrequent? When it is
considered how many lights there are burning in and about
a step, 'wetly some means might be devised to guard the
lartips somewhat better than at present. If the "New
Planet" were only to produce this reform in stage manage-
ment, it would thine to some good purpose.
- - -

- - -
Patacgss's.— The entertainments at this theatre
consisted of an English version of Auber's comic opera, " The
Barcarole," followed by " The Midsummer Night's Dream,"
with the musical additions made to it when produced some
years since at Drury-lane. The " Barcarole," the libretto
of which is by Scribe, is a very lively piece, ingeniously con-
structed, and full of bustle and incident. The plot rests upon
the authorship of a little song, or barcarole, and its effect on
the fortunes of the principal characters. A gentleman cots-
pewee it, as a piece of gallantry, to the lady of his love ; he
communicate; it to his protege, a young musician, pupil
of an organist. An, intriguing nobleman, who wishes
to make an indirect declaration of love to the Grand
Duchess, employs the organist to compose a song for this
purpose. The organist steals the melody of the
'outvote from his pupil, end palms it upon his ems
ployer as his own, the nobleman hides it in the
Grand Duchess's work-box, where it is found,. not by I
her but by her husband, the Grand Duke,who is furious, and
endeavours to discover the criminal. The interest lies in the
manner in which the innocent parties are involved in the
suspicion of guilt, and the danger of punishment. This
Barcarole may thus be called the principal character of the
piece. It is one of the most graceful among the many pretty
melodies of this kind that Auber has produced ; and some
pleasing effects arc produced by its recurrence in differ-
ent situations and in different forme. It was twice sung by
Allen, in the character of the Count di Fiesque, and, each
time, was vehemently encored; and it was effectively
sung as the finale of the piece. The whole music of the
opera is in the light, airy, animated style which distinguishes
the head of the present French school. The most busy
scenes are carried on in concerted music, which is often rich
in harmony, always dramatic, and full of warmth and
movement ; whfie the instrumental accompaniments
are full of masterly touches. The piece was well
got up and performed. Allen, in particuler, sang
admirably, and Leffler gave considerable effect to the part of
the madly old organist. The principal female part was per-
formed by Miss Anne Romer. It is dramatically insignifi-
cant, but there is some pretty music in it, which she sang
very nicely, though her voice seemed more than usually defi-
cient in volume and power,—" The Midsummer Night's
Dream" was splend.dly got up, some of the scenery being
extremely beautiful, and the spectacle altogether rich
and brilliant. We could hove dispensed with a great deal of
the music. Much of it is pretty enough ; but we think that
all the attempts to transform Shakspeare's comedies into
operas Lave been sadly injurious to their dramatic beauty and
effect Some of the characters were well performed. Mrs.
Stirling, as Hermia' was tender and interesting. Miss Mar-
shall was light and fairylike in Puck. Compton's perform-
ance of Bottom was exceedingly comic, and entirely free
from vulgar exaggeration. The whole of the " Pyramus
and Thisbe" scenes kept the audience in a roar. The house
was crowded, and both pieces were quits successful
- -

•
Mont:K.—The performances commenced with
Martin Chuszlewit," and concluded with " The Enchanted
Faulk" a fairy spectacle, which has already had a con-
siderable run. The only novelty was an extravaganza,
entitled " Crusoe the Second." A company hes been
funned in London for the establishment in the Brszlls of a
fashionable dress and stay-making business, of which Ck-
montina (Mn. Keeley) is the director. She accordingly. em-
barks with Withehrsina (Miss Dickinson), as provisional
committee. and a bevy of workwomen, who would
have done credit to Cranbourne-alley in its pal-
miest days. In consequence of a mutiny in the
ship, the captain lands them on the Island of Ascension,
maseising to return in a few days, when he trusts to have
radioed the crew to obedience. Wobbles (Mr. Wigan), the
husband of Clementina, who has preceded her to Brazils,
has been wrecked on the same Wand, of which he has con-
stitatied himself "Autograph," to use the words of Snod-
grass (Keeley), who is his man Friday, his facto-
tum, gad his committee of ways and mesas. The ladies
and Snodgrass, finding from the traces left by each other
that they are not the sole denizens of the island, labour
under the impression that they are about to be
assailed by cannibals, which, when Ckmentina, Snod-
grass, and Willselnsina meet, gives rise to many ludi-
crous' Names, of which Keeley, as may be expected,
makes the most. Everything is explained at last on the
rencostre of the be and she Wobbles at the moment the ship '
heaves in sight, which is meant, we presume, to convey the
',dole of the dramatis persons to the place where business is
to be commenced with a capital of 1001., in shares of half-a-
s:own each.—The acting wee so good, that it would
be invidious to particularise. We must, however, make
am exception in favour of the fair manageress, who elicited
she greatest share of applause in a parody en a well-known
air in Sorsesoinbulo. The piece itself is smartly written.
The idea appears to have been derived from the papers re-
cently pablisbed in Punch, entitled " Miss Robinson
°rune."

• ADELPHI.—The continued success of the drama of
the " Flowers of the Forest" would, no doubt, have rendered
any new "first piece" unnecessary for Easter; but the
revival of the " Phantom Dancers," which seems to have
slept fora week or two but to revive with as great vigour as
ever, has been considered sufficient to supply the place of the
no=e" usually produced at this season. Thu leaves
record of the performances last night, but the fact
that the house was as crowded self one novelty had succeeded
=other, instead of the continuation of " pieces" which have
so long attracted the public favour.
SADLER'S WELLS.—The Brat piece performed BIM
was Rowe's tragedy of " Jane Shore." A previous &mush=
slue with such painful incidents of this drama, unrelieved
as they are by the least touch of the humans= might have
led one to imagine that the play would bet= dews= he
Bestir Monday ; but the parts were to u anstainall, that
the sympathies of the audience seemed to be theasughlylespt
awake. Miss Cooper, as Jane Shore, and Kim Aiaienn, as
Alicia, were deservedly =pleaded. A musical interlude
(for the first time), entitled " The Rival Serjeants," was the
novelty of the evening ; and if a sensation of heaviness was I
produced by the tint piece, the second was certainly light
enough to remove it. The scene Is in Paris. The charac-
ters of two sujeants are enacted by Mr. Scharf and
Mr. B. Mellon, who, the one u &Venni Charles,
the other se the Irish Serjeant 0' Lynn, seek the hand of
Merpereele (Miss Julia Wallock). After some incidents,
which are much better appreciated by spectators than
they meld be by readers, the Irishman's impudence hee-
l= carried him almost to the realisation of his hopes, he is
overwastched, and his rival is accepted in due form. Miss
Walletiesperforsaanco of this lady was exceedingly clever,
=owls( haw lauds may be done by spirit and tact to make
tip for intsioneise on the part of the author. The males
dosed with Dinov's farce of the " Bengal Tiger," whisk le
lose of its sours] popularity in the hands of the eseepeer
at the Watts.
AirriArr's.—This favourite place of amusement
imintained its reputation last nightby the re-production of
the " Bride of Abydos," the ground-work of which is
rsElephants, camels, zebras, deer, and other
aidition to the usual stud of well-trained horses, took
part lathe performance, proving Batty to be a formidable
41=1 of Bunn. The scenes in the circle exhibited some ex-
easeeginsrp equestrian hats, which fully bore out the elm.
octet this theatre las earned. The whole concluded with
the Wee of " The Married Bachelor."
IffitlfttaT.—The Surrey bill of fare for last night
litirsßy overflowed with novelty, dramatic and gymnastic.
The eatertainments commenced with a new drama, called
"The Discarded Daughter," which was listened to with
great patience, but with little or no approbation. The plot
is objectionable, aad the dialope emphatically " slow ;"
while we mimed thou striking situations and terrific com.

bats which form the glory of Surrey melodrama. The
piece introduced a debutante, Mn. Ware, from the Shef-
field theatre, a lady with a good face and figure, and likely
to become • favourite. A recent importation from the
"Drier. of Damagdi," a corps of Bedouin Arabs, followed
with their truly wonderful evolutions. The entertainment
took tie form of a festival for the amusement of Atxtrel-
Kader, who, by the bye, did not appear (we suppose from
some latent fear that Marshal Bugeaud might be among the
audience), and the Arabs tumbled and sprung, and whirled,
and formed pyramids of two, three, and four human stories,
with a certainty, agility, and grace, which we have never
seen equalled. If the emir have only half the activity of his
migratory subjects, we feat it will be some time vet
betore the illustrious warrior above named can

:"....ciWeh 'his bare" of the desert. The performance
was loudly and deservedly applauded throughout.
The other entertainments consisted of a new farce, by Mr.
stifling, called Xis.ing goes by Favour," in which Mr.
Webb and Miss Terry kept the house in good humour. A
romantic drama, called "The Two Brothers of Pisa,"
finished the evening. Although much too intensely inte-
resting for our taste, the piece seemed to warm up the sym-
pathies of the audience effectually. We noticed one novelty
yesterday evening's performance which deserves especial
notice. The whole was over at half-past eleven, a thing
without precedent in the annals of a Surrey Easter.

Vicroma.—The holiday audience filled every
available part of this theatre. The "gods" occupied with
Impromptu pleasantries every pause in the entertainments ;
and, as they were exceedingly good-humoured, they
formed a not much less amusing entertainment than that
formally set forth in the bills. The novelty was a melodrama
of the thrillieg interest" school, culled " The Forger's
Vow; or, Sidi Bureau, the Bedouin Chief of Jerre." There
is the usual round of characiers, comic and serious. The
main interest is evolved by the career of the hero,
Henry Metrote, "a rich banker; afterwards the forger, the
mameluke, and the commander," the delineation of which of
course loses nothing in the hands of Mr. N. T. Hicks. The re-
mainder of the programme consisted of a drama called—
" Donselia, the Heroine of Castile," and a nautical piece—
" The Reefer's Wrongs, or the Wreck of the Aurora," both
of which are sufficiently known to the audience of this
theatre to ensure their welcome reception.

CITY or LoNDoN.—The first and principal piece at
this theatre is an adaptation from the rrench, entitled the
" Inundation," and evidently run up in a hurry, in order to
catch the popular feelings excited by the lamentable occur-
rence to which its same refers. As this "Inundation" has
no necessary connexion with the plot, which turns on the
rapacity of a miser and the liaison of his son with the desti-
tute daughter of the man whom he contributed to ruin, it
would have been better omitted. The sentiments, however,
are entirely altered, to suit the English ear, and this circum-
stases, combined with the very creditable acting of Mr.
Lyon, as the Miser, and Mr. E. F. Saville, obtained for it
the repeated applause of the audience. " The Int:mate
Friend," and " The Lichfield Lover," two short pieces,
not without merit, but by no means new to the public, con-
tributed to keep up their good humour but the perform-
ances of Mr. Roches, " thegreat English bottle equdibrist,"
as the bills designate him, was the chief attraction. His
"extraordinary pyramids and wonderful feats" evidently
constituted, in the opinion of the audience (a numerous
one), the essential ingredient in the Easter bill of fare at this
little theatre.
OLYMPIC.—The " Mountaineers" was performed
here respectably, albeit the gentleman who played the
principal part ranted beyond all toleration. But the
chief attraction of the evening was a new burlesque, enti-
tled " Joan of Arc, or the Maid of All-he.uns." The
subject is a good one; but was not, perhaps, worked out
to its full capability. The dialogue, though smart in some
places, was evidently written some months ago, when the
allusions would have " told," but the subjects of themhaving
died off, the jokes fell pointless : such, for instance, as
" Should Cromwell have a statue ?" The piece, however,
was excellently put upon the stage—and supported by the
clever acting of Mr. R. Romer and Mr. Cr. Wilde, assisted
by a very pretty and effective corps of female warriors, it
was well received, and announced for repetition, with the
unanimous approval of an audience who were too few in
number to be able to muster many dissentients.
QUEEN'S.—The piece produced at this theatre last
evening, for the amusement of the holiday folk, was a new
extravaganza, entitled " The Ship of Glass." The plot turns
chiefly on the adventures of Cusigue (Mr. J. Parry), a wild,
daring, though honourable young fellow, and of Angelica,
his beloved, the daughter of Von Klypp (Mr. Randall).
Von Klypp is a philanthropic Dutch ship-builder, who de-
votee himself to necromancy, and to Certain submarine deities,
who dwell, or rather swim, near an island which coatains
unbounded wealth, and which is only approachable by a
vessel of glass, commanded by a man who as free from guilt,
and the crew of which shall for one-half of the voyage to
the island be shadowless. These impossible conditions come
to the ears of Von Klypp, who immediately takes into con-
sideration the plan of constructing the ship of glass, and is
aided by the submarine spirit of virtue, Marantia,
whs promises to be the protectress of the ship.
His task being performed, he learns from Moran-
tia, that, should he fail in complying with the provi-
miens of the prediction, the ship will, by the power of an
opposing deity, who guards the island, fall to pieces, and all
on board perish. CUZifliB having saved Von Klypp's
life and wealth from pirates, is promised his daughter, on
condition that he undertake to pilot the ship of glass. lie
consent., god his adventures with pirates form the rest of the
plot. They are carried through by the usual stage means
of hair-breadth escapee, and desperate combats, which work
out the inevitable destiny of melo-drama—vice punished, and
love and virtue triumphant. Cuzique obtains the hand of
Angelica as the reward of his valour, and the pirates meet
with punishment commensurate with their deserts. There
is, as usual, a comic underplot, which produced much amuse-
ment to an easily-pleased audience. The performance con-
cluded with the " Wolf Hunter," which was &Lowell received.

FRENCH PLAYS, ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.—The re-
gumption of these entertainments yesterday evening brought
back to us Ross Cheri, whose engagement we are sorry to
find is limited to 12 nights. She appeared in two comedies,
the established favourite " Un Changement de Main," and
a new piece, " La Protegee SAN le Savoie," to which her
acting communicated considerable interest. The orphan of
French emigrants, and left wijh no resource but her pencil,
she has been placed in a position of easy independence by
the generosity of a benevolent nobleman, whose agent has
purchased, as on his own account, each work from
her easel at large prices. With her growth from child-
, hood to womanhood her secret patron's pity bag
become nearer and nearer akin to love ; and, on her part,
the tender passion has, in like manner, grown up under the
semblance of gratitude. The real state of the case reveals
itself Meech upon an insult offered to the Pi otipe by a youug
rake, who, adopting the current rumour, regards Helene as
simply the mistress of Lord Albert (layering. The latter at
once offers her his hand, which she accepts with delight, and
a difficulty that presents itself having been removed by one
of those fortunate coincidences that are always so ready at
hand to make two lovers happy, in play or novel, the pair
are united. Mademoiselle Rose Cheri's impersonation of the
heroine is a most graceful and moot gracious thing, full of
feeling and refined nature. She is a kuly-Dejazet. She
was excellently supported by M. Rhosevil and by M. Car-
tigny. Next week we are to have " Clarissa Marlowe."