The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-06-02 00:00:00

PARTIES,

The Duke of Beaufort entertained a large party at dinner yesterday, at
hio.hou, e in I)rmarenor4gume.
The Dowager ittarehionesa of Sallabary's Intended assembly, on Wed-
ne:duy evening. was poAlponed, on account of the death of Vi.enunt
In+e•lrie, son of raft "faith,t, who departed this life a short time since at
Vimma.

The Earl of Suffolk had a grand dinner party yesterday, at his house In
Curran-street, Mayfmr.
Lord King had a grand dinner party nn Wednesday, at his house in
Haver—treet ; among whom wage—Lord Ebrington, Sir James and Lady
aham, Sir Michael Show Stuart, Sir Sidney Smith., Mr. and Lady Mary
Hamilton Wit:lams, lion. Mr. Moore, &c.
Baroness IVllloughby do Ersby gave another elegant entertainment on
Wednesday, at her house, Whitt hall, to a distinguished party; among
whom were—the Marquis of Exeter, the Marchioness of Weediness h, the
Earl, Countess, and meager Countess of (tittle, Lord and Lady Tulia-
more, Lord A.l: Dowager
ley, Lady Harriet Ashley, Lady Charlotte Seymour, Lady
Gwydyr, ?fr. and kfrs. Arbuthaut, Mr. rierreputut, Mr. Brook Greville,
Mr: .1,,..ar1es Weenie, Mr. George Anson, Mr. Le Roos, Miss Elphin-
atone,
MOVEMENTS.

The Downer Duchess of Rutland entre.] on Wednesday evening, at her
bou•e it. naekvlite-btreet, GUM Urlvulr Castle.
The Marytalv of Carmarthen and Lord James Townshend have left town
for Cornwall.

Loid and Lady Mary borough left town yesterday, for their seat, near
Witd.or. _ _ _

Cutonei and Urn. Gore Langton and family kft town yesterday, for
their neat, Newton I'ar►, riomeraet.,hire,

R. B. PAllipa, Esq. leit Coupon's Hotel, Lower Brook-street, yesterday,
for Ail seat, Pletun Castle.
Artlralv yesterday, at Fenton's New Hotel, St. Jarnes's-street —Admiral
F'r John Welk kart., from his seat In Sul:it: ; and Colonel Burke, from
Vlnd•or.

A rr!rals a! Motel, Jermyn-street :—Mr. and Mrs. M'Lean, from
, Gl:Jrge Lucy, Esq. M.P.. from Stratfood.on.Avon.
Arrivals at the 1% away,' Hotcl, Jermy n-vtreet —Mr. and Mrs. Bank-
ston and Mrs. Milner, from their scat In Surrey. Departure :—Mrs.
Te.t4date, for Brighton.

lleparime•, yeiterday, from the Burlinatan Hotel, Old Burlington and
Curti-.trees, —Lord Lorton and the llomourable Mrs. King, for Ireland;
the Bey. Mr. and Mn. Dyson arid family, fur their seat, Ureat Marlow.

THE KING'S COURT.

Yesterday, at two o'clock, his Majesty held a Court, at
his Pakce in Pall-mall, which was attended by the
Lord Chancellor, the Lord President of the Council, the
Lord Privy Seal, the First Lord of the Treasury, the
cretary of State for the Home Department, the Secretary
of State for the Foreign Department, the Secretary of State
for the Colonial Department, the President of the Board of
Control, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Chancellor
of the Duchv of Lancaster, the President of the Board of
Trade, the Muter-General of the Board of Ordnance, the
Lord Steward, the Master of the Horse, the Groom of the
Stole, the Swedish Minister, the Danish Minister, the
Treasurer of the Household, the Captain-General of the
Yeomen Guard, the Vice-Chamberlain' Lord in Waiting
(Lord Lovaine), Groom in Waiting (Sir Andrew Barnard),
the Lord Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, the
Recorder of London, the Master of the Ceremonies, the
Marquis of-Salisbury, Lord Strathaven, Sir Colquhoun
Grant, General Bayley, &c.
The following had the honour of being presented to his
Msksty

the-Baron Steirneldt (the Swedish Minister), and the
Count de Moltke (the- Danish Minister), had audiences,
anti were respectiv.ly attended by the Right Hon. George
Canning and Sir Robert Chester, in the usual way.
Lieutenant-General Bayley, on his appointment to the
Coloneley of theSth, or King's Regiment of Foot. _

Major-General Sir Colquitoun -Grant, on his appoint-
ment to the Colonelcy of the 12th Lancers.
Lord Strathaven was presented by the Marquis of Win-
chester (as Groom of the Stole), on his bring appointed a
Lord of the King's Bedchamber.
Ilia Mid. sty held a Privy Council, at which Mr. Gre-
ville attended as Clerk. At the Council, a Proclamation
for the dirAolution of Parliament was agreed upon, and for
the assembling of a new Parliament, the writs for which
are to be returnable on the 2stli of July next ; also a Pro-
clamation for the election of Srotch Peers, to take place,
we understood, on the 13th July, at liolyrood House,
Edinburgh ; and a third Proclamation respecting the elec-
tions in Ireand.

The Marquis of Salisbury was introduced into thefoun-
cil, sworn in a Member, and took his seat at the Board
accordingly.
After the Privy Council had concluded, the !It:corder of
London was admitted into the presence of the King in
Council, and made Isis report of the convicts capitally
convicted at the last Sessions.

His Majesty gave audiences to the Eat! of Harrowby,
the Earl of Liverpool, Mr. Canning, and Mr. Peel.
The Court broke up about six o'clock.

On Wednesday the Cabinet Ministers dined with
Viscount Melville.

ENGLISH 01PEItA House.—ln consequence of his other
engagements, and the commencement of the English
Opera House regular performances, we regret to state to
the laughter-lovers of this grist town, that Mr. Mathews
will be no longer "at Home during the present season.
That he has done much to dissipate gloom in this panic-
stricken age, the number of his guests best proves • and
that circumstance assures us that, whilst he has catered so
well for the amusementAand, we will add, the improvement
of his contetnt oraries, he has been one of the very few
successful speculators in these uiatnal times. As Mr. Ma-
thews's friends have received his "Invitations" most cheer-
fully,we Lope that be will be prepared to give them as kind
a welcome next ye;:r, as they feel he has given them in this.
In the course of the entertainment, Mr. Mathews, in a
very short farewell address, expressed his thanks to the
audience for the kind support he had experienced.
lIIASHURNADE.—Last night the last Masquerade of the
season took place at the Argyll ItIOIDIL The entertain-
ment, if such it can be called, of last night, was sufficiently
insipid. There were briefless and taciturn counsellors,
fresh-water sailors, prim romps, witless authors, Christian-
like Tucks, and terrible Turks of Greeks, &c. &c. in
splenty. There was a plentiful lack of comedy, and a
superabundance of that sort of desperation which is so
frequently the substitute for huntour—w, mean, r;ct.
The only characters worthy of notice were Mrs. Paul l'ry,
Who really was very prying, and a Yankee, who was a
very fair apology for Mathews. There was some tolerable
dancing; and-after supper there was a little more of spirit
and humour, and a great that more of disorder and dis-
traction.

The following distinguished persons ere tolie raised to
Ole Bridal) Peerage s—Lordlearns, Mr. J. S.. Wortley, Mr. C.
Rose Ellis. Mr. Duncombe, dlr John Leietwer: Sir Chas. Stuart,
Sir Charles Long, Lewd Northland, and the Lady of Sir Henry
llnhord. We also undernt.snd that the mother of the Hight lion.
Vesei Fitzgerald is to be creased an Irish Peeress, and that h^ into
succeed Sir Charles Ling as F.synsanicr of the Forces. There
being no precedent of a phynichin being taised to the British
Peenige, and it being the grzeious intention of his Majesty to enno.
We the family of Sir Ilenry 11,iltord, it has been found necessary,
fur the seeomplishment of that perpore, to confer the title upon
LAtip 1121fouL

~~~

Miximml

.57AW'S THEATRE.
Meyer's Medea, very judiciously chosen by Madame
Pasta for her benefit night, was composed at Naples in
and is looked upon as the first grand mural of tragic
opera in the modern school of' Italian music. From the
time of Gluck's Akeste and Orptiros, until the appearance
of Meelat the style of' lyric tragedy had been altogether
abandune:l, and mere tragic scenes were introduced, is in
Romeo, Mello, &c. The revival of it in tWa production
was attended with the most ample success, the public taste
having been gradually prepared by Rossini's Elizabeth, and
Otelto, which hail already appeared. The poem of Medea
is one of the finest of its kind in the Italian language,
abounding, in be autiful verses, and by no Means inferior
to Seneca s and Corneille's tragedies bearing the same
name. In the duet of the first act, between tilt:sone and
Medea, occurs the sublime /o, pronounced by the Queen—
the U...clea sisperext of Seneca, and the mob of Corneille.
The music in this opera is certainly the sublirnest effort
of the great composer Meyer. It is a model of expression
and of faithful adaptation to the different meanings of the
poet. The character of Medea is so arduous an undertak-
ing, that the deficiency of qualification in many a cele-
brated singer has been the cause of the opera having been
hitherto performed only at Naples, Milan, Dresden, and
Paris. It was originally written and composed for Madame
Cothran(' (now Madame Rossini), who acquired a great re-
putation through it. But although we have been among her
most forwnrd admirera at Naples, we have since decidedly
ceded the palm at Paris to Madame Pasta, whose concep-
tion and performance of this character form the ablest dia.
iday of a :Arlon of dramatic and vocal powers that ever
appeared on any stage; and in this assertion we are partly
borne out by the voice of the Parisian public, who have
since paid Madame Pasta the highest compliment in their
power to bestow, by placing her on a level with their great
Palma. We were therefore glad to hear that this brely had
chosen the very piece in which her various utilities are
allowed the greatest extent of action, to appear in on the
night of her benefit; and we anticipated one of' the richest
treats in operatic and dramatic productions that were ever
offered to that audience, by whom Madame Pasta's talents
have ever been most eminently appreciated. The event
has not fallen short of our expectations, though many
were the difficulties thrown in the way of the "getting
up" of this opera, and the errors and mistakes likely to
attend its first performance.
Those who have seen Madame Pasta in Tancredi, Nina,
Romeo, and Desdrmona, will no doubt agree with us in
saving, that in Mule°, not only she unites the expression
of the noble, the pathetic, and the tender sentiments, sepa-
rately required, belonging to those characters, hut she adds
to them a greatness and digni:y of manner, which hitherto
we have only seen her but partly assume in Semirumide.
In the scene wherein site rushes upon her children, to stab
them, but stops short by a sudden impulse of maternal
affection, she was truly terrible and grand; and the duet
between her and Egeo (Toni), "Ali ! d'un alma generous,"
she gave with a pathos and sublimity truly admirable,
which elicited the most rapturous applause. We do not
believe that, upon any occasion in which Madame Pasta
has appeared as ifedea, she has been more effective than
last night; towards the end, indeed, - her great efforts
nearly overcameher ' • and when she came forward to receive
and thank for the thunders of applause which attended the
conclusion, Torri and Curioni supported her almost ex-
hausted frame. We sincerely regret that neither space nor
time will admit of our entering into a minuter analysis of
this evening's performance, and of rendering sufficient
justice to the distinguished heroine of it.—She was ably
seconded by Madame Caradori, as Creaser, Curioni, as
Giasone, Torri, as IP.,geus, and Porto, as Creontes.—The
house was crowded to excess, and innumerable persona of
the first distinction were present.