The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-02 00:00:00

BENTLEY.

Mr. Bell has, in the present instalment of " The
Ladder of Gold," commenced a love story of the
most interesting character. Richard Rawlings, deter-
mined to secure a high connexion for his family, fos-
ters in every way possible the penchant of Lord
Charles.Eton for Margaret, or for her fortune ; and
Margaret and Henry Winstone, who at length are
brought clearly to understand the state of each other's
hearts, by the attempts made to separate them, mutu-
ally confide in each other, and Henry Winstone is
accepted by Margaret as her lover, at the same mo-
ment that Lord Charles Eton is accepted by her father
as a suitor for her band. At this interesting portion
of the story the present instalment stops, and we
must wait until next month to learn how Richard
Rawlings sped in his wooing for Lord Charles
Eton. There are several social pictures in this
instalment of the " Ladder of Gold," which are very
daguerotypes of English life, as it at present is ;
among these, we would more particularly select as a
subject of special commendation the description of
the meeting of railway shareholders, and that of the
eventful dinner at Mr. Rawlings's, in which Mr. Mick
Costigan is introduced. This latter scene is the sub-
ject of a spirited illustration. Among the articles of
permanent interest in this number of Bentley, is the
commencement of a series of " Inedited Letters of
Celebrated Persons ;" the present chapter gives a
batch of letters from Horace "Walpole to Lysons the
antiquary, written between the years 1787 and 1796.
Alfred Crowquill furnishes a pen and ink sketch,
and a short biography of Mr. Sims Reeves. This
is followed by a paper on her Majesty's Theatre, in
the course of which the writer thus comments
on the immense progress that dramatic musical
science has made of late years, and on the perfect
manner in which the musical drama has been repre-
sented of late years at the first lyrical theatre in the
world—her Majesty's Theatre. The writer says—
" There is nothing more surprising in the way of pro-
gress than the height of excellence the Italian opera has
attained within the last half century an excellence which
is developed in its most perfect form this season at her
Majesty's Theatre. To the mere attraction of melody
and concerted music, expre esed with sensibility and taste,
have been added all the accessories requisite to bring out
the passions and the action of the piece. An opera is no
longer an incoherent patchwork of musical, effects, but
a drama of plot and character, in which the performers
are not singers merely, but actors, and some of them
great actors—Coletti and Lablsche, for example. Criti-
cism is no longer satisfied on the stage with the attain-
ments that delight us in the concert-room; much more
is required to fulfil the demands of the theatre—pas-
sionate utterance, dramatic power, feeling, energy, and
judgment. To render the illusion more complete, the
scene is dressed with a scrupulous attention to historical
propriety, and pictorial art supplies a Lack-ground, that
realises, as far as art can realise, the last exaction of a
cultivated and pampered taste.
" The performances at her Majesty's Theatre this
.teason may be referred to in illustration of the justice
these remarks. The combination cf talent collected
within the walls of that house, which still retains a
supremacy worthy of its traditions, has enabled the
management to produce an ensemble beyond which it
would be difficult to imagine the achievement of greater
triumphs."
We haves reviews of Mr. Erskine: Neal's recently-
published biography of the Duke of Kent, and of
Frank Forester's Books on Field Sports in America,
besides an elaborate criticism on the writings and
genius of George Sand, and several other papers of
an amusing character.