The Express.
London, England, 1848-12-27 00:00:00

Eke erpreoo.

NAILS.
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vildbe sob ap oaths &yelling of the 211th Dee.
The mile be tbe Tied t*.otot of Atria. wad Madeira will be wee
het ea Shavvestag of the Shah lac
no vow ler New saute Situ. Tea filemea's Lead, sad N.
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The Wad boas Ka* holudtaa Permuds, Nem% ileasitaa
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eledeies, et. Joe to. elluentrun, NM (Named% Oath. wed Per% wit
be mode op on the morning .A tbo Ind Jae.
The mule Fe Notate*, the Brasile. end Buenos Ares,
mode uo on IL. evening of the 4th Jae.
The satin for Via., opoito Ledant, Nevus. Cain; sad etbrelud
',di be ...le up .1.4 the morning of the 7th Jon.
The meth, via elmeeittsa, to
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he made up de the maimed.' the Telth ieet•

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L' NJXh. WEDNESDAY, DEC. 27.

ALis ! Alas! for " Boxing Night!" There's
neer • pantomime at either of thu 'Theatres that
once wire " great." Covent O irden, which had ths,
merit of rritionaliaing and accliinatising such enter-
tainments, and of thereby adding to our stock of
harmlrim amusement, has been delivered over to
Italian Opera; in ridicule of which Gay wrote his
immortal piece for this very playhouse. And old
Di ury Garrick's I /racy Shcridan's hmv7—erst
the abode par excellence of the national and the legiti-
mate in that art " which all their beauty blends —"
where ri.virro's and famine speech " Tell our
invaders this—and tell them too"--once aided in
tightening BONAPAKTI from our shores, is now in the
hands of French Equestrians—Philistines that they
are. Nay, worse still ; " the little house iu
the Haymarket," whi re the British I trams
in its distress and decline has found a hos-
pitable refuge, closes its do re against Panto-
mime, betakes itself to Fairy Extravaganza
and leaves Iforlegnin and his fellows to stages unhal-
lowed by traditionary attractions; and where their
spirits and their tricks are alike cramped, cabined, and
confined. Nor have they found a welcome in the psi
vate histrionic. of royalty at Windsor Cattle

flow ktvwd, kow bnnnued Ince. avail* meta nut.
Thus is Riot avenged fur t' e sneers of his contem•
porsries, sad URIYALtq for the neglect of his youthful
admire s.
Ye' there are children still in the land; we are, rot
all hum men and women: Christmas is still holidav
time : ar,d the 01.1e.t amongst ur ye' believe in what
an Italian poet sang :
•

Yew, then• Ore Own. an• 'Alan...,
Whet name. ant al wieei Vale. are well. the Grate..

Far be it from us to take on ourselves the delicate
decision of whether we or pantomime hare mos.
changed ; whether it is the tastes of the times or the
merits of the en'ertainment in which the mutation is
most strongly marked ; whether we are m ire intellec-
tual and retinet, or Harlequin in less lively, ranks:*l'
less nimnie, and e/oten leas droll. We but note and
record the fact, as honest chroniclers. of oral revolts
Lions and of mimic revolutions; of the fell of dynas-
tic a. and of the decline ot the wa;,,e ; of the "small
beer" of royalty, and of the still "smaller beer "of
nevi&
Yet what has the whole of lefB been but one long
preparation for Christmas pantomimes ? What va-
rcety ot incident has it not provided for them—
what tricks, what changes, why mutations has it not
prepared for teem! The world is in an upeoar, end
theatrical rein dumb and in itoeless at Drury-
lane and Covent-garden. What has Italy, what
has France. whet has Germany, what hap
Ireland been in IM4S but one long hurl. quinade ?
Loos Flutters at eot Star and Garter ; Plo Noso
at Gaeta ; the Kaiser heaven know v where ; and the
old Bavarian in the arms of Lou Mosier. hamlet,
in his most reflective mood, never pictured inch base
noes for royalty while living:
Imperial eeur, deal and turned to day.
May stop a bole to town the wind 5.1.17.
The " great houses" in their better days would have
cleared the expellees of a steam out of a tithe of such
pantomimic materials as the sad actualities of 1818
have furnished. When in the presence of such pro-
vocation they " nuke uu sign," the body of panto-
mime is indeed defunct; though its gho-t may for a
mason or two longer continuo to disturb the repose of
some of the minor theatres, or take refuge in trans-
reline establishments.
Can it be that the fell of pantomime is but a fore-
miner to the permanent decline of the British drama
itself ? Gradually society is taking less and less in-
terest in our theatres; and the time really appears ro!
far distant when it will take none, and when our
play-houses will be attended by these only who have
no society. Yet Exeter-hall is almost nightly filled
by music ; the Italian Operas are so attractive as to
be able to leave prices to the operation of the natural
law of demand arid supply ; a new French Opera
Comiqns it show to bo opened ; perambulating mon-
ster concerts 'weep the previews., acid tele ye them of
their loose cash; scares a great thoroughfare in Lon-
don but has its Casino, its Salle de Venue., its
Valentino, or its Weipperts ; and never in the history
of this great metropolis were lecture rooms so
numerous and lectures on all imaginable subjects
so eloquent, as in these bad times, when, whit' with
rails and revolutions, we are all supposed to be half
' ruined.
Our English players will tell us, that it is in this
competition we must seek for and find the cause of
the decline of English theatre a. Fashion and music
have alienated, they allege, the higher classes;
cheaper amuemeuts and intellectual pursuits have,
they add, emptied the pit and galleries. These cer-
tainly may be causes, as they may also be effects;
but, if the former, they are not the chief causes.
" The fault is not in the stars, dear BRUTUS ; but in
ourselves that we are thus." Our players have them-
selves
principally to blame for then- present plight.
They attempt to reap where they have not sown.
They attempt to sustain a great art without being
grounded in the principles on which alone it can tw
reared. They forget that it was by slow degrees, and
by careful study only, that CHARLES KtxßLl became
the must accomplished actor of his day. They re-
member only that KEAN HI a single night took pot-
session of the town. And they strive after him unit.
tainable success, and neglect the patient perseverauce
of the last of a still greater race of actors. Managers,
authors, the public—all are to blame, except them-
eelves. And thus, in the midst el their freeing,
grumbling, and atarving, the stage declines from bad
to worse; and will continue to decline until the advent
of some one, who, in addition to the elementary
acquisitions of grammar and elocution, shall possess
professional education; anti palmed fitness shall
arresti is felL
Excellence in this country is as a general rule
always rewarded ; when it is zuglected, the chancre
are that there are some special and countervailing
causes. Good and able men, in any department of
life, can almost invariably meet with remunerative
occupation. Why are the Italian Operas and Ruhr
Hall nightly crammed ? &COMO their attractions
are of went unparalle le d—because tin rot the most re-
tined and cultiveted are souls& ti, se.d the ignorant and
the unlearned delighted and intormed. We find ex-
cellence everywhere--at the operate, at s.isatific and