dale, 631.—Mr. W. C. T. Dobson, Meditation, 1267.; Humpty Dumpty, 791.-Sir J. Gilbert, The Innkeeper's Daughter, 157. Pictures Mr. H. Hardy, The Old Horse of the Cliff, 631.-M. Diaz, A Glade in the Forest of Fontainebleau, 1477.— Troyon, The Boat, 1521.-Fromentin, Arab Horsemen, 1941.; M. Kaemmerer, On the Sands at Scheveningen, 1571.; Friend or Foe, 851.-M. J. Dupré, Cattle Drinking, 3637.; A River Scene, 941.; The Companion, 991.-M. E. Frère, A Boy Reading, 1451.-N. A. Passini, In the Bazaar, 981. Bargue, The Janissary, 4201.-Bonnat, At the Fountain, 1471.-H. Lier, Night, 1681.; Morning, 781.-M. P. J. Clays, A Calm on the Scheldt, 2521.-Mr. J. Maris, A Girl Feeding a Goat, 521. -M. J. Tissot, Avant le Départ, 9451.-M. Gérôme, Dispute d'Arabes, 1,0507. The same auctioneers sold, on Monday last, the under-named pictures: M. L. Bakalowitz, The Return from Church, 1367.; The Little Favourites, 1361.; The New Acquisition, 584.-M. T. Weber, Marine View, near St. Ives, 781.-M. E. Frère, Dressing the Child, 1521.-M. L. Rossi, The Master is Absent, 1787.-M. E. Levy, Happy Parents, 2621.-M. L. Gallait, Maternal Happiness, 7877.-M. J. L. Gérôme, Bischari Warrior, 2621.M. H. Tenkate, The Jugglers, 2151.-Decamps and Ciceri, A Landscape, with sportsmen and dogs, 601.-M. Bougereau, Head of a Spanish Girl, 1687. -M. Je De Jonghe, The Cabinet of Antiquities, 2101.-C. Troyon, A Bull in a Landscape, 6301.M. Baagniet, A Visit to the Nurse, 105l.-M. Madrazo, The Laughing Girl, 1477.-M. Ziem, A Fête on the Bosphorus, 2461. M. Diaz, A Landscape, 1947.-M. J. Dupré, A Marine View, 4981.; A Landscape, 115l.-M. E. Fromentin, The Siesta, 3941.-Rendezvous of Arab Chiefs, 8921.-Baron H. Leys, The Declaration, 1,1657.-M. C. Detti, The Guardian Outwitted, 1681.; The Dinner in the Park, 1621.-M. L. Perrault, Expectation, 1571. —M. L. Knaus, Thieves in a Fair, 5931.-M. G. Brion, The Village Fête, 3461.-M. M. Bianchi, Interior of a Church in Rome, 1367.-Decamps, The Mendicants, 2461.-M. J. Bertrand, The Death of Virginia, 1307.-M. Ingomar, The Little Brother, 1151.-M. E. Lejeune, The Fisherman's Daughter, 1261.-M. R. Sorbi, Il Penserosa, 1151. The following pictures were sold last week in Paris, for francs: Jan Steen, La Noce de Village, 15,000; Jésus Chassant les Vendeurs du Temple, 6,100; St. Nicolas, 6,100, Van der Velde, Animaux à l'Abreuvoir, 6,800,-Berghem, La Sortie des Troupeaux, 6,000,-A. Cuyp, Le Lièvre Forcé, 1,020, Craesbeck, Les Politiques du Cabaret, 6,000,-J. Breughel, Jésus Prêchant, 1,500,-Weenix, Scène Galante, 1,360,-Wynants and Lingelbeck, Halte de Chasse, 9,250,-D. Hals, Scène de Cour, 2,500,-Platzer, L'Atelier de Peinture, 3,350,-Zorg, Apprêts du Repas, 2,560,— De Puligo, La Vierge, l'Enfant Jésus, et St. Jean, 6,000,-Nattier, Un Portrait de Grand Dame, 1,430,-Oudry, La Ferme, 3,420. The collection of M. J. Fau was also sold in Paris, comprising the following works: Largillière, Portrait d'une Jeune Dame, 9,150; Portrait de Forest, 3,000,-Beaubrun, Portrait d'Anne d'Autriche et de Louis XIV., 4,000,-Huysmans, Paysage, 3,750,-Mignard, La Duchesse de Portsmouth, 2,900, Nattier, Portrait de Mdlle. Victoire, en Diane, 9,000; Jeune Femme, 2,000. -- Fine-Art Gossip. THE private view of the Exhibition in the French Gallery takes place on Saturday next; the public will be admitted on the following Monday. AT M. Feurdent & Co.'s gallery in Great Russell Street, where the antiquities discovered by General di Cesnola were deposited before going to the United States, may be seen a fine bronze statuette of a nude male figure, probably as good a specimen as could be desired of a very noble, if not the noblest, style of Greek sculpture. Had the proportions been more nearly perfect than they are, one might have said that this delightful relic belonged to the best period of the art which it so happily illustrates; but the arms are too small, the head is less than perfection requires, and one of the feet is less expressive of the action in view than it might be. On the other hand, the execution of the back and breast, the thighs, and the features of the face, is unexceptionable. The figure is naked, stands nearly erect, but easily on one foot, after the antique convention, holds the remains of a staff or sceptre in the left hand, which is extended downwards, the elbow on this side being slightly bent; the right arm is bent to a right angle, with the hand open, the forefinger being slightly raised and extended. The surface of the bronze is perfect; its colour unusually beautiful; and the modelling of the back and the treatment of the torso, especially as regards the clavicles, scapulae, and the deltoid muscles, are superbly fine. Along with this work may be seen three Gallo-Roman busts, male portraits, heads, rather larger than life, which are interesting on many grounds. The statuette was found in fragments, concealed inside one or more of these heads. The discovery was made some time since, in Savoy, as described at the time in the Revue Archéologique. It is proposed to erect a large museum, with galleries for works of art, at Rouen, in place of those now in the Hôtel de Ville of the city, which are found to be insufficient. additional statues, as follows:-Le Pèlerin,' by THE Luxembourg Garden has been enriched by M. Petitôt; Roland Furieux,' by M. Duseigneur, in bronze; 'Un Lion,' life size, by Cain; ‘Une Bacchante excitant un Lionceau avec une Grappe de Raisin,' by Caillé; 'Pan jouant de la Flute,' bronze, by Durand. A GENTLEMAN, writing to the Times, the other day, lamented the dirty state of our public statues, and of the lions in Trafalgar Square in particular. He recommended that they should be washed; but he was surely not aware that so infamously bad is the workmanship of these monuments that the bronze is full of surface holes, in which the acid-laden rain of London lies whenever it falls, and that in a few years, far fewer than the average duration of bronze in London might fairly lead us to expect, these surface holes will become perforations honeycombing the statues. The metal of which the statues are formed is extraordinarily thin; and we have been assured that the weight of neither of these great castings exceeds five or six tons. The best thing that can be done for them is to stop the surface holes, so that the destruction which is inevitable may be retarded. MR. VERNON HEATH, of Piccadilly, has sent us two large autotype photographs, one representing a well-known and noble chestnut tree on the bank of the Thames at Cookham, the other an extensive landscape with Ben Venue in the distance. These are admirable productions in their way, although, like all "autotypes" that we have seen, they lack the brilliancy and clearness which are, in our opinion, the chief charms of photography. On the other hand, the great size of such works appears to us a positive disadvantage. No one wants such big things for his own house, and, however interesting they may be to photographers as tours de force, the general public are not likely to care for them. Of course, we cannot criticize these things as works of art, indeed, that including Ben Venue is bald topography, but the representation of the chestnut has a charm which belongs to photography fortunately applied-the charm of a reflexion in a mirror when divested of colour, the charm of charms, and with light given in a dingy grey. Within these limits, and it is pleasant to see how wide the limits are, the "mechanical" reproduction of the tree is amazingly delightful; the sentiment of nature, the grandeur, soulless as it is, of the enormous mass of foliage, the softened sheen of the smooth water, the minutiae of the bank, are all to be seen. The manipulation of both the photographs is highly honourable to the skill of the operator. We should have preferred that the sky had not been touched. MUSIO PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY.-Conductor, Mr. W. G. Cusins.--St. James's Hall-FIRST CONCERT, WEDNESDAY, March 25, Eight o'clock.-Concerto Grosso. in A. Handel; Concerto for Violin, Beethoven, and Violin Solos, Herr Joachim; Symphony (Scotch), Mendelssohn; Overture, King Stephen,' Beethoven; and Der Freischütz,' Weber. Vocalist, Madame Otto-Alvsleben.-Stalls, 108. 6d.; Reserved, 78.; Unreserved, 58. and 28. 6d; Stanley Lucas, Weber & Co.'s, 81, New Bond Street, W.; usual Agents; and Austin's Ticket-Office, St. James's Hall. HER MAJESTY'S OPERA. If ROSSINI's operas, composed in and for Italy, tax most severely the vocal capabilities of modern lyric artists, and there are few, indeed, who can now cope with the roulades so freely exacted, not only from the soprano and tenor, but also from the contralto and bass. It is not considered a necessity in these days for students to master the scales thoroughly before they make their débuts. A pupil who has the semblance of a voice, with any degree of power, is at once brought out on the stage, to scream, if a woman, and to shout, if a man. the new-comer is a bad timist, phrases wretchedly, and accents horribly, the rule of the criard school is that of the French orator, to make a rising scale of the quantum of noise. And thus it is that the Rossinian répertoire is almost shelved. Il Barbiere' alone, for which certain artists do train specially, is performed constantly, and the other works come music, but when the contraltos, tenors, and basses periodically, but at rare intervals. There is a moderate supply of sopranos who can execute florid are sought for, the fingers of one hand will suffice to indicate the artists available in all the European Opera-houses. Now it is a curious fact, and one which is highly creditable to the singers, that three of the principal parts in the present cast of 'Semiramide' are sustained by a German lady, a French one, and a Belgian, for Fräulein Tietjens is the Queen of Babylon; Madame Trebelli-Bettini, Arsace; and M. Agnesi, Assur. The Idreno is Signor Rinaldini (Italian); and the Oroe, Signor Campobello, or Mr. Campbell, an American. The inference to be drawn from this polyglot mixture is, that in Italy the art of vocalization, so far as it concerns executive skill, has been extinguished since Rossini closed his Italian career at Venice, in 1823, with his masterpiece Semiramide,' which he composed for his first wife. Our English tenors at that period could master the bravuras, for the representative of Idreno was the once popular Sinclair, whose variations on the air "Pray, Goody" were considered a wonder. Signor Verdi certainly revolutionized the art of singing roulades, for since the advent of his declamatory productions there has been no lasting reaction. Sir Michael Costa made great efforts at Covent Garden Theatre, during his twenty years' occupation of the post of Musical Director, to bring about a Rossinian restoration; but there were two opposing influences— first, the public taste for the spectacular French grand operas, and, secondly, the more fatal cause, that every year competent artists got more and more scarce, and the Italian singers gave way to those of other countries, thus creating the cosmopolitan casts at the lyric theatres, playfully called Italian Opera-houses. We cannot affirm, for one moment, that 'Semiramide,' as it was heard at Drury Lane Theatre on the opening night of the season, last Tuesday, approaches the execution of bygone days, such as it was within even the memory of the middle-aged connoisseurs; but it is pretty safe to assert that in no other theatre in Europe could such a perfect ensemble be realized at the present period as that presented at Her Majesty's Opera. It is one of the best specimens of the Rossinian school that has been heard for many a day. It is not requisite to go into details. The qualities of the principals have been noticed in these columns in previous seasons; but the richness of colouring and vigour of style imparted by the leading artists, by the choralists, and, above all, by the instrumentalists, evidenced the care, attention, ability, and zeal of all concerned in this exceptionally fine embodiment of Rossini's Oriental imagery, of his power, his dignity, and his pathos. What a mind of wealth is there in the ever-varying strains of melody, sufficient to delight the ear, and to make us forget momentarily the days of Pasta and Grisi, of Pisaroni and Alboni, of Galli and Tamburini ! Signora Lodi was to have made her debut as Amina, in Bellini's 'Sonnambula,' on Thursday night, but, owing to the new artist having a cold, the performance has been postponed until this evening (Saturday). Signor Verdi's 'Trovatore' was substituted on the 19th, for the first appearance at Her Majesty's Opera of Signor Naudin as Manrico, and the début of Signor Galassi, a new baritone, as the Count, the Leonora and Azucena being Mdlle. Tietjens and Madame TrebelliBettini. At the representation of 'Semiramide' an unprecedented incident occurred. The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, having entered the Royal box at Drury Lane Theatre after the National Anthem had been sung and the overture had been played, expressed a desire to hear this brilliant prelude, and it was, therefore, played a second time, before the commencement of the second act. WAGNER SOCIETY. THE fifth concert, on the 13th inst., in St. James's Hall, was conducted, as usual, by Mr. E. Dannreuther. The scheme was divided between Beethoven, Liszt, and Rubinstein, and there were also a number of gleanings from Wagner's works. The lively overture, 'King Stephen,' has little affinity with the four passionate preludes which are attached to the Leonora-Fidelio. The composer must have been in one of his most joyous moods when he wrote the occasional overture in honour of Hungary's first benefactor. Was the 'Magic Flute' floating in his brain when he conceived the theme for the flutes in the opening andante? The air, although said to be Hungarian, has no kind of resemblance to the melodies made known to us by Liszt and Joachim. Beethoven, probably, as a native of the Rhineland, had no profound sympathy with the Danube. He composed to order, and, doubtless, sought to tickle the ears of the many rather than to satisfy his own judgment. 'King Stephen' was followed by the Choral Fantasia, Op. 80, a pianoforte piece with orchestra, classified as appertaining to his Second Period; but, although produced and played by Beethoven in 1808, it is quite free from gloom and despondency. It is a choral outbreak of cheerfulness, with a pianoforte obbligato to entertain the singers. It has been called the father of the No. 9 Choral Symphony, but this does not hold good with regard to the orchestral writing, for the three movements of that stupendous work were innovating, and the first was revolutionary. Mr. Walter Bache played the Fantasia con amore as it ought to be played, that is, without stiff formality, but with vivacious phrasing. Next to the two Beethoven pieces came two airs, by Liszt, "Der du Von Dem Himmel Bist"; and by Rubinstein, "Die Waldhexe." The last-mentioned song was highly appreciated. It is full of bewitching charm, as the title imports, and was remarkably well sung by the American contralto. The Wagnerian excerpts were the 'Huldigungsmarch' (composed in 1864, for the accession to the throne of the King of Bavaria); the Chorus of Messengers of Peace, from the second act of 'Rienzi,' the solos sung by Madame Corani and Mr. B. Lane; the overture to the Meistersinger von Nürnberg'; the choral song from the same opera, "Wachet Auf," which was encored; and three numbers from 'Lohengrin': the chorus "Ein Wunder! ein Wunder!" the thanksgiving air of Lohengrin to his beloved Swan, and the chorus, "Wie fasst uns selig süsses Grauen." There were two redemands. If we do not dwell more in detail on these extracts, it is because we prefer to be considered for the present more as chroniclers than critics. We cannot repeat too often that the Wagnerian question, quoad Opera, can only be solved here by performances on the stage with artists trained for their respective parts. Band and chorus we can find, but we want princi ་ pals, and, above all, time for preparation is the drama. MONDAY POPULAR CONCERTS. MR. HORTON C. ALLISON has in the press two new works, entitled 'The Cambridge Concert Studies,' and 'The Oxford Concert Pieces.' They will consist of music in the strict style (canon, fugue, &c.), and have already been publicly performed by the composer at concerts in London and Manchester, as well as in the Gewandhaus, at Leipzig. SCHUBERT'S Ottet for violins, viola, violoncello, contrabasso, clarionet, horn, and bassoon, was executed at the Crystal Palace Concert last Saturday, with the wind instruments doubled and the whole body of stringed, an -an imitation of the Conservatoire practice, which had better be avoided than followed. The vocalists were Miss Annie Williams, Miss Sterling, and Mr. W. Castle, the tenor. Weber's Euryanthe' and Sir W. S. Bennett's 'Wood Nymphs' were the overtures. MR. DANNREUTHER selected Beethoven's Sonata in a flat major, Op. 110, for his pianoforte solo on the 16th inst., which Czerny, who was the intimate friend of the composer, classifies as having been THE season of the London Ballad Concerts conceived and originated at an earlier period than ended on Wednesday. Of the utility of these that at which it was published together with 109 entertainments we have before spoken, but although and 111. There is no real ground for disputing the many unexceptionable songs have been produced, authority of Carl Czerny, or, at all events, the a stricter surveillance should be exercised to prereasons assigned against the use of the title vent the influx of the trash with which the "Posthumous" based on style are too frivolous to shops of the publishers are now inundated. be accepted. But no matter what the "period," the sonata bears the impress of the genius of Beet-Royalty or no royalty, the rules of grammar should be respected, and wholesale larceny ought hoven, and calls forth the powers of a most to be stopped. At present the laws of meum expert executant, such as the player of last and tuum in the selection of a tune are utterly Monday, who developed its varied phases with neglected. spirit and brilliancy. Herr Joachim treated his hearers to a novelty, by playing a Sonata in G major, by Tartini, one of a set of six violin solos, the pianoforte accompaniments to which were written by M. Léonard, the well-known Belgian violinist. Sir Julius Benedict accompanied Herr Joachim ably, but the sonata is not so showy as the trille du diable. One of the attractive features of the scheme was Beethoven's Quartet in B flat, Op. 131, very properly styled one of the "Posthumous" set, for it is miserable quibbling to say that, because the copies of his last quartets were in type, they are not "posthumous." Schindler and Schlesinger are justified in using the term, as publication only took place after the composer's death. But it is going much too far to argue that he would not have retouched the works had he lived. Miss Edith Wynne was the vocalist. Musical Gossip. We cannot notice this week the performance of Mr. Sullivan's 'Light of the World,' at the Royal Albert Hall, on Thursday, and the production of Mr. G. A. Macfarren's oratorio, St. John the Baptist,' by the Sacred Harmonic Society, on Friday (the 20th). Here are two representative musicians-one advanced in years, the other yet young: the one, a professor who has long struggled on without patronage, and who has been obliged to trust always to the intrinsic merits of his compositions for such public recognition as he has received; the other, a composer whose abilities were recognized from their earliest indications, who has had as a youth, and in his early manhood, the utmost assistance from Royalty downwards, or upwards, if Art alone is to be regarded. The two composers have selected grand subjects for musical setting, the inferior theme, that of the Baptist John, fell to the veteran; the elevated text, that of the Saviour to the young professor. Both musicians have had the advantage of great executive resources at two different festivals, the elder without pomp or circumstance, the younger with every sort of state and pomp. Which is the work that will live? Which composer has done the better work, he who laboured in darkness and obscurity, or he who has enjoyed light and publicity? These are the art questions which have to be pondered, they are considerations which must be borne in mind in estimating results. M. GOUNOD'S fourth concert will take place this evening (the 21st). He will produce a new 'Ave Verum,' THE last of the Brixton Monthly Popular Concerts took place on the 17th inst. The transpontine amateurs are to be congratulated on having had such a lover of classical music as Mr. Ridley Prentice for a director. A propos of the fourth concert of the British that Orchestral Society we need only state the new Overture in D, by Mr. Gadsby, "The Witches' Frolic,' based on the story of Rob Gilpins's Dream,' in the 'Ingoldsby Legends,' displays fancy: his themes are tuneful, his treatment is ingenious, and, as the composer of a clever organ concerto, it is palpable that his imagination is not confined to narrow bounds. Mr. Macfarren's fine overture, 'St. John the Baptist,' was in the scheme. The singers were Miss G. Maudsley and Mr. Bentham. THE concerts next week will be the Monday Popular, Mr. H. Leslie's Choir on Tuesday, the opening programme of the Philharmonic Society on Wednesday, the British Orchestral Society on Thursday. In addition to the Musical Festival at Gloucester this year of the Three Choirs, there is to be a renewal of the Leeds gathering. A guarantee fund of 5,000l. is to be raised, and a provisional committee, with the Mayor as chairman, has been formed. THE students of the Royal Academy of Music will give another concert on the 26th inst. It must be understood that at these performances the pupils past as well as present appear, as in the previous programme the leading singers were nearly all public artists. THE season of the Théâtre Italien in Paris will terminate on the 5th of May, and during the remainder of that month MM. Merelli and Strakosch will give a series of concerts. From the 2nd of. June, the Grand Opéra troupe will have sole possession of the Salle Ventadour. During the Holy Week, Rossini's 'Stabat Mater' and his Messe Solennelle' will be performed by the Italian Opera company. If the success of the new opera, 'I Lituani,' by Signor Ponchielli, be as great at future representations as on the first night at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the work will be proclaimed a masterpiece. The composer was called for twentyfour times, besides encores. The cast comprised Madame Fricci-Baraldi; Signor Bolis, tenor; Signor Pandolfini, baritone; and M. Petit, basso. The libretto, by Signor Ghislanzoni, is based on the Polish poem of Adam Mickiewicz's 'Conrad Wallenrod,' patriot who succeeded in securing his election as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in order to use its influence in favour of the freedom of his country. Betrayed, he poisoned himself to escape the penalty of death, ordained by the sacred tribunal. The situations, which are dramatic, have been well set by Signor Ponchielli, whose score is free from the ordinary mannerisms of the modern Italian school, and the orchestration is clever and effective. His comic opera, 'I Promessi Sposi,' was in Mr. Gye's Prospectus last season, but was not produced, and is again promised for this year; but 'I Lituani' would appear to be better adapted for the Covent Garden stage than the opera-buffa, ‘I Promessi Sposi.' THE Wagnerians in Brussels are indignant at the introduction of a ballet at the performance of the 'Tannhäuser' at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, in presence of the King of the Belgians and his visitors, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh. "GIBRALTAR," writes a Correspondent, "has been unusually fortunate this winter from a musical point of view, an Italian Opera Company having, after a most successful season at Cadiz, paid a flying visit to the Rock. Amongst the members of this company is Mdlle. Rose Isidor, who has gained in Spain a thorough endorsement of the very high opinion entertained of her musical talents by the frequenters of the Opera-house at Malta, where she made her début. Her voice is a pure soprano, singularly sweet and flexible. She will before long be heard in England." THE New York Arcadian of the 5th inst. supplies a detailed account of the operatic doings at Havana, under the direction of Madame Lucca, Mdlle. Murska, and Signor Vizzoni, and of their attempted abandonment of chorus and orchestra, when the speculation failed. The Havana judge, after the three artists were prevented from leaving the city, insisted upon the deposit of 9,000 dollars in the court, to meet the claims of the company. The money was raised eventually, and the two prime donne and the tenor were permitted were exchanged, however, before the legal authori to embark for New York. Severe recriminations ties, which showed that the financial management of the troupe had not been equitable or accurate in the application of the receipts. Madame Lucca was singing in German opera at the Stadt Theatre, in New York, at the latest advices, and the Strakosch Italian Opera Company were playing at the Academy, with Madame Nilsson in the 'Hugue nots' and in the 'Trovatore,' with the co-operation of Malle. Torriani, Miss Cary, the contralto, Signori Campanini and Puente, MM. Capoul and Maurel. AT a second-rate Opera-house in Hanover, Gluck's Armide,' with Fräulein Wekerlin as the heroine, has been revived; it is also proposed to mount Spontini's 'Fernan Cortez.' THE Edipus,' of Sophocles, translated by Herr Wenelt, with incidental music by Herr E. Lassen, the musical director of Weimar, has met with great success in that city. MADAME PLEYEL, who had withdrawn for a long time from public playing owing to illness, has reappeared in Brussels, and retains her great powers as a pianist. A SECOND lady orchestra has appeared at the Casino in Paris. A new theatre has been opened in the Boulevard de Strasbourg in Paris, and has assumed the title of the Scala, but the performers will be of the music-hall and Vaudeville class. Ar the Brussels Sunday Popular Concerts, the new symphony by Herr Joachim Raff, 'Lénore,' a setting of Bürger's ballad, has been successfully produced. chronicled in last week's Athenæum, has most one Something of irony seems to underlie the 66 spring of action: it is now superseded by his repentance. He makes a liberal allowance to his former ally, and sends him about his business; he gets rid, by legitimate means it must be understood, of a low-born wife who has hampered him, and he proposes to a cousin, who is both young and pretty. So selfdenying does he grow, that he accepts meekly the refusal his advances encounter, with the man she prefers. After an edifying, and makes the recalcitrant young lady happy if short, career of goodness, he is shot by Lafleur, whom he detects cheating at cards. As a story, one accepts this, and one becomes fairly interested in its evolution. From the point of view of dramatic art, however, it cannot be defended. Nothing is adequately explained, and the spectator, who will accept the play as comprehensible even, must supply much from his knowledge or from his imagination. First among the faults must be counted clumsy construction, the change of character in the middle of the piece giving the whole the appearance of being broken-backed. It is a mistake to dismiss from the stage, at the end of the second act, the character who gives his name to the play, and a second to leave the audience in doubt as to what has befallen him. A still graver error is committed in representing Richard as married to a servant, with whom he has no relation whatever during the early scenes, and from whom he is cheaply and conveniently separated the moment he falls in love with another woman. The characters are hastily drawn. It is intended to present Lafleur as under the spell of the passion of gambling. Like many other things the authors have intended, this is manqué. The relations between Richard and Lafleur are not adequately accounted for. Mere comradeship will not warrant the sacrifices made by Richard; and though vague hints of previous companionship in crime are dropped, they are insufficient to render the relations comprehensible. Hence a play with much in it that is fresh and dramatic, fails to retain the attention it enlists at the outset. 'Ready-Money Mortiboy,' accordingly, cannot be pronounced a success. It has, however, merits of a kind that are not common in modern workmanship, and its comparative failure is not of a kind to discourage further effort on the part of its authors. The play is mounted with care and taste, and is well acted. Mr. Clifford Cooper gives a truthful and natural presentation of a miser, and never degenerates into the caricature which, on the English stage, such parts seem to invite. Mr. George Rignold looks the character of Richard to the life, and thoroughly appropriate. plays it with a frankness and brusqueness Miss Litton is attractive as a young lady, and Miss Marie Henderson imparts spirit to the low-born wife of Richard. Mr. Bruce gives an unconventional presentation of a villain, and Mr. Bishop a good picture of a successful farmer. Dramatic Gossip. No benefit to theatrical art, so shamefully persecuted in this country, is, it appears, to be expected from the change in the Government. Just as "One Amurath another still succeeds," a fresh Polonius is always waiting to step into the place vacated by his predecessor. A request of the managers of the French company at the Holborn Theatre for permission to play the works of Alexandre Dumas, Augier, Feuillet, De Girardin, Sardou, and other de Cluny, has met with moderate success. It is a SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO.'S writers proscribed by the previous censorship, has been rejected by the new Lord Chamberlain. With something that appears intended for humour, the Chamberlain employs as his mouthpiece in his refusal the same competent gentleman, Mr. Spencer Ponsonby, who has previously, in the same service, covered himself with laurels. In all respects of style and of courtesy, the missive in which this refusal is conveyed is worthy of any discarded official. Is then, it may be asked, the influence of red tape paramount in England, or is the aristocracy fallen to so low a point that it cannot supply one court functionary who knows the exigencies of art and the rights of literature? WE have received from a provincial dramatist a history of his experiences of London managers. His letter of complaint is too long to be inserted in our columns. Its gravamen is, however, the negligence of London managers in reading MSS. committed to their hands. Our dramatist seems to have had special cause of complaint. His piece, before it was sent to a London theatre, had passed the ordeal of performance in the country. After it had been detained unread for months, and all applications for it had been vain, the dramatist was compelled to commence legal proceedings in order to regain possession of it. From time immemorial, managers have been like this. We do not know what justification there is for their riding thus the high horse, except it is that they are so wearied with worthless applications that a success now and then would not repay them for the trouble of wading through piles of MSS. We may mention to young authors there are managements in London where like proceedings are not permitted. Such is the management of the Gaiety. We do the theatre, however, it is to be feared, a sorry service in giving publicity to the fact. WE hear that Lord Byron's tragedy of 'Sardanapalus' will shortly be produced at the Prince's Theatre, Manchester, Mr. Charles Calvert, the manager, acting the chief character. "THE CLANDESTINE MARRIAGE' of Colman and Garrick, founded upon Hogarth's 'Marriage à la Mode,' will be produced at Easter at the Gaiety Theatre, with Mr. Phelps as Lord Ogleby and Mr. Herman Vezin as Lovewell. THE first dramatic venture of M. Gustave Flaubert is a failure. Le Candidat,' a drama, in four acts, produced at the Vaudeville, is a study of real life in the French provinces in the same vein as 'Madame Bovary. Its presentations of electioneering device, and the meannesses to which the candidate descends, proved wearisome to the audience; and as the whole was without love interest, or, indeed, it might be said without feminine interest, it failed to entertain. M. Delannoy gave a clever picture of the Candidat, whose proceedings, it is to be hoped, are not common in French elections. The piece concludes with a bitter but scarcely mentionable stroke of satire. 'Séparés de Corps,' a one-act comedy of M. Bergerat, has been played at the same house. It presents a husband and wife, who have quarrelled and undergone a legal separation, meeting again as lovers, and enjoying relations void of encumbrance. One of the characters utters the following aphorism: "La noblesse est aujourd'hui comme tous les autres arts: il faut y exceller ou ne s'en pas mêler." Two novelties have been given at the Gymnase, 'Le Cadeau du Beau-Père,' a one-act comedy of MM. Bernard and Bocage, and 'Brulons Voltaire,' also in one act, by MM. Labiche and Leroy. The first is an indescribable piece of absurdity, in which M. Ravel plays a comic part. The latter is a dramatic combat between a Voltairean bourgeois and a pious baroness, who will only sell him her château on the condition that he will consent to burn a copy of the works of Voltaire. MM. Pradeau and Frédéric Achard and Madame Lesueur interpreted the piece agreeably. 'LA FEMME DE Paillasse,' a six-act drama of M. Xavier de Montépin, produced at the Théâtre melo-drama of an old-fashioned type. AMONG the novelties to be produced in Paris towards the close of the present week are 'Le Sphinx' of M. Feuillet, at the Français, and the Mi-Carême' of MM. Meilhac and Halévy, at the Palais-Royal. MISCELLANEA "It is impossible to read these volumes without feeling a considerable respect and liking for Dr. Schweinfurth... He deserves no small degree of the credit due to the travellers who can describe as well as encounter exciting adventure "- Saturday Review. "But no one can read The Heart of Africa' without perceiving that the fine personal qualities of the German Doctor, his patience, simplicity, endurance, scientific enthusiasm, philosophic temper, and iron constitution, were the real causes of a good fortune which must rank him henceforward among the greatest of African travellers, in the same illustrious list with Park, Denham and Clapperton, Livingstone, Burton, Speke and Grant."-Daily Telegraph. "Dr. Schweinfurth is not only an enterprising naturalist, but a most accomplished artist, and his sketches are now of more special value when we appear to be likely to lose many of the fruits of Livingstone's long and toilsome labours."- Standard "It may be imagined from the multifarious interests of Dr. Schweinfurth himself how much interesting matter he has collected, and to how many different tastes his book will appeal" Pall Mall Gazette. "The most valuable volumes of travel which have seen the light of publication for many years..... Neither in Grant's, Baker's, Burton's, nor Livingstone's books do we see Central Africa so clearly as bere..... The English public are much indebted to Messrs. Sampson Low & Co. for the production of this important work."- Echo. "Few greater books of travel have been written in our day."-Globe. ** See also a long Review in the Athenaum of Feb. 28 and March 7. NOTICE.-To be published on the 25th, AFRICA: Geographical Exploration and Christian Experience, from the Earliest Times to the Present. By J. GRUAR FORBES. Crown 8vo. cloth extra. Geneva Reading Society. A Correspondent writes:-"We have a flourishing literary club at Geneva, under the title of the Société de Lecture.' It possesses a library of 50,000 volumes, and has a yearly circulation of 18,000 volumes amongst its members and their families. I have had the curiosity to ascertain the language most in request, and this is the result of my inquiries. The average circulation of each volume has been, for one in French, 10; Italian, 8; English, 8; German, 4; Greek or Latin, 34; other languages, 3. Three quarters of the library consists of French books, so that the average demand of 10 volumes in that language shows a great preponderance of French reading; but there are in the library rather more German books (10 per cent.) than English (9) per cent.), yet the latter are twice as much in request. The English language is better known and more liked than the German, although our vicinity to Germany, and the fact that two-thirds of the Swiss people are German speaking, render this language an important one to us. The learning of it is obligatory in our schools, and it is considered the national language. The frequent request for Italian books may be explained by the easiness of this language to us French-speaking Swiss, and also because the Société has purchased mostly Italian classics, and but few works of a mediocre description. The educated class of our town is well represented by the 400 members of this reading society, which, during the fifty years of its existence, has included several thousand members. What would be the average of the current literature in demand at a similar library, or at the RECOLLECTIONS of SIR GEORGE B. British Museum in London? Probably a much less proportion of foreign reading, and assuredly a greater demand for French than for German books." SPECIAL NOTICE.-Third Edition, ready this day, CAPTAIN BUTLER'S 'The WILD NORTH LAND.' 188. "The love of adventure breathes through every page of his book, and gives it a pleasant flavour of originality."-Saturday Review. "It is not always that the restless wanderer, whose love of adventure leads him into the wildest recesses of distant mountains, can reproduce his impressions with the skill and power that are shown by the author of The Wild North Land.'-Athenæum. "We can only say, that if his book on the Gold Coast turns out as interesting as the one now before us, it will be most heartily welcomed.” Ocean Highways. TWO YEARS in PERU. With Explora tion of its Antiquities. By THOMAS J. HUTCHINSON, F.R.G.S. F.R.S.L. M.A.I., Author of Impressions of Western Africa, The Parana and South American Recollections,' &c. 2 vols. demy Svo. with Map by Danel Barrera, and numerous Illustrations, cloth extra, 288. [Ready. "Embraces an attractive account of the archæological features of the country, and at the same time gives an encouraging view of its general resources, and the prospect of their development, under President Pardo."-Times. L'ESTRANGE, late of the 31st Regiment, and afterwards in the Scots Fusilier Guards. With Heliotype Reproductions of Drawings by Officers of the Royal Artillery-The Peninsular War. 8vo. cloth extra, 148. "The personal experiences of one of the few survivors of the Peninsular War can hardly fail to supply attractive reading to all who take au interest in our military history We therefore hail with pleasure the appearance of this book, which is well and simply written." Athenaum. WINTER at the ITALIAN LAKES. Small post Svo. with Frontispiece View of the Lake Como, cloth extra, 78. 6d. [Ready this day. NEW WORK BY ELIHU BURRITT, TEN-MINUTE TALK on all SORTS of TOPICS. BY ELIHU BURRITT. With Autobiography of the Author. Small post 8vo. cloth extra, 63. Chaucer's Clerkship of the Works.-The question of Chaucer's apparent neglect of duty, in respect of inaction under his appointment as Clerk of the Works at Windsor, receives a simple solution when we understand that the building then in ruins was not the existing St. George's chapel, but a previous edifice. King Edward the Third, who effected great improvements at Windsor, and refounded the ancient guild or chapter of St. LOW'S HANDBOOK to the CHARITIES George, does not appear to have built a chapel ; no doubt the fraternity had a chapel then fallen into decay, and it may fairly be taken to have appeared a hopeless case in Chaucer's time, for King Edward the Fourth removed it altogether, and founded the present edifice on a different site. A. H. of LONDON for 1874. Comprising the Object, Date of Formation, Address, Income and Expenditure, Treasurer and Secretary, of above Nine Hundred Charitable Institutions and Funds. Under the direct Sanction of Her Majesty the Queen. Edited and revised to February, 1874, by CHARLES MACKESON, F.S.S., Editor of A Guide to the Churches of London and its Suburbs," &c. 18. The MEMBERS for SCOTLAND, SCOTCH REPRESENTATIVE PEERS, &c. See The ANGLO-SCOTTISH YEAR-BOOK, which also gives an Account of all the Institutions, Societies, Clubs, Companies, Churches, Newspapers, Paliamentary Law Agents, Advocates, &c., in London, connected with Scotland; with other Information useful to Professional Men and interesting to the General Reader. By ROBERT KEMPT. 18. [Nexɩ week. By FANNY AIKIN-KORTRIGHT, Author of Anne Sherwood,' 'Waiting for the Verdict,' 'The Dean,' The Old, Old Story,'' Pro Aris et Focis,' &c. Small post 8vo. cloth extra. Keady next week. As You Like It, act ii. sc. 1.-Turning over the pages of Arrowsmith's Chain of Principles,' Cambridge, 1659, I came, at p. 119, on the following A LITTLE LOWER THAN the ANGELS. quotation from Bernard (side reference, "Bern., epist. 107, aliquid amplius invenies in sylvis quam in libris "), "Believe me, said Bernard to his friend, as one that speaketh out of experience, there is sometimes more to be found in woods than there is in books. Trees and stones will teach thee that which is not to be learned from other masters." Compare Shakspeare: And this our life, exempt from public haunt, NEW NOVELS. YOUNG MR. NIGHTINGALE: a Novel. By DUTTON COOK. Author of Hobson's Choice,' Over Head and Ears,'' Paul Fter's Daughter,' &c. 3 vols. crown Svo, cloth extra, 318. 6d. SWEET, NOT LASTING: a Novel. By ANNIE B. LEFURT. 1 vol. crown 8vo. cloth, 108. 6d. [This day. ARGUS FAIRBAIRN. By Henry Jackson, Author of Hearth Ghosts,' &c. 3 vols. crown 8vo, cloth, $18. 6d. [This day. Most probably this has often been noticed; if so, you will pardon my troubling you; if not, you may A CHRONICLE of the FERMORS: Horace like to see it. B. M. N. TO CORRESPONDENTS.-T. T.-H. M. D.-K. W. M. R. J. E.-W. C. T.-F. R.-C. J. S.-received. Walpole in Love. By M. F. MAHONY (Matthew Stradling), No notice can be taken of communications not authenticated London: SAMPSON Low, MARSTON, Low & SEARLE, by the name and address of the senders. Crown-buildings, 188, Fleet-street. SMITH, The ASHANTEE CAMPAIGN. By WINWOOD READE (The Times | DISTINGUISHED PERSONS in RUS Special Correspondent), Author of 'The African Sketch-Book, 'Sava ge Africa,' &c. SHAKSPEARE COMMENTARIES. [Preparing for immediate publication. By Dr. G. G. GERVINUS, Pro fessor at Heidelberg. Translated, under the Author's superintendence, by F. E. BUNNÈTT. A New and Cheaper Edition, thoroughly revised by the Translator. With a Preface by F. J. FURNIVALL. [In the press. LITERATURE and DOGMA: an Essay towards a Better Apprehension MOHAMMED and MOHAMMEDANISM: LECTURES delivered at the ROYAL INSTITUTION of GREAT BRITAIN in February and March, 1874. By R. BOSWORTH SMITH, M.A. [Nearly ready. SWISS ALLMENDS, and a WALK to SEE THEM: a Second Month in Switzerland. By F. BARHAM ZINCKE, Vicar of Wherstead, and Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen. Crown 8vo. 78. 6d. [Nearly ready. 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