Merkel (Dresden), Herr Kühmstedt (Erfurt), 1. A. Guilmant (Boulogne), Herr C. Schaab Berlin), M. Berthold (Tours). All the fifty organ ompositions have been expressly written for the ournal, which is engraved and printed in clear ype. The organ Sonatas of Mendelssohn created new school, and in Part 7 we find an Andante trazioso in G major, of Mendelssohn's school, racefully written by Mr. Henry Smart. An Allegro Moderato in B flat, by Mr. Prichard, as the spirit of the outer world it is a mere ketch, but is very fairly handled. Mr. Prout ontributes a pasticcio of Fugue and Choral. Dr. Steggall will add to his reputation by his 'ugue in D minor, which is in the old fashion f two-fold theme, and is carried out with vigour. Ir. G. A. Macfarren's Andante in a major (Part 8) 3 well conceived. Perhaps amongst the foreign ontributors the Larghetto in G minor, by M. Batiste, although much the shortest, is the best. 'here is a particular movement for the organ, of reat beauty, much patronized by the old masters, nd particularly so by Handel, which we miss in Dr. Spark's book, and which seems to be quite orgotten by our modern organists. In England it as known as the movement for the great Diapaons, written in minims and in slow time. Examples If it will be found in the Sonatas of Corelli, aringed for the organ by Barthelemon, in the 'Suite e Pièces,' by Handel, for the harpsichord; in the rgan voluntaries by Bennet, and the composers of is day; and, lastly, in the grand movement by ebastian Bach, which he inscribes gravement. As he movement is built upon imitative harmony, in lose counterpoint, without the aid of a subject, it is nly sheer scholarship which can keep it up. No rganist of the present day, so far as we are aware, as it at command; but it is the real style for choral ork, and it is reported that Dr. Worgan possessed to such a degree that the famous Richard Cecil, hen Worgan played the middle voluntary, conessed he was unable to turn up the Lesson for the ay, for he could not distinguish Genesis from Revelation. One book from Dr. Spark containing pecimens of the legitimate school of composition, isely selected and carefully edited, would prove of he utmost value to our rising performers, and a reat boon to the clergy and their congregations. Ve stand greatly in need of organ music; people re tired of arrangements of airs and imitations of iano and quartet music. The organ, the emperor f instruments, has its own peculiar school. The hurch is neither a drawing-room nor a concert-hall; nd Sunday differs from all other days. Organ comosers, organ players, and organ editors, should emember these things. It was an evil day for the grand old hymn by St. mbrose, or St. Hilary, or some one Saint of those mes, for it seems no one really knows who made , when the Eli Society for the encouragement of hurch music offered a reward of 5l. for the musical endering best adapted to parish choirs. An army f organists set to work, bought the short Te Deums of Boyce and Arnold, and the shilling ediCons of German Part Songs, and in a short time ne sacred music-warehouses were deluged with mese simple hymns by simple singers, and we may dd by simple composers. One would suppose the rst care of a musician in this matter would be to vince an aesthetic and, if possible, a holy feeling, nd to lay out a proper artistic plan by what has een described as the inversion of the key. The sthetic feeling and the scholastic logic might have ade something useful to parish choirs. Out of he scores of New Services, Te Deums, &c. which ave recently appeared, not one can be said to be atisfactory with regard to these two points. The orks specified above are neither better nor worse an preceding ones. There is little order or intenon they wander here and there, backwards and rwards, round what are called the accompanying ey of the Tonic. The form is such as we hear week-days in not a few cathedrals, and which is most undesirable to perpetuate. When we record that the Hymn Book entitled Hymns, Ancient and Modern' is selling at the te of a million a-year, the public will cease to wonder at the stream of new hymn-tunes almost daily flowing from the press. Not a little curious is the war-tone which is now taking possession of the modern hymn; but at present not much has been done in the right direction. A hymn-tune is like an epigram: being short, it ought to be perfect. We cannot speak in favour of the church militant music of Mr. Tilleard and of Mr. Bartholomew. There was no pressing necessity for the latter to publish his Christian War March; Christians may march, but they will not fight to such music. The 'Hymnal' is a careful compilation, the musical edition being designed to be a companion to the Book of Common Prayer, the order of the ecclesiastical year being observed. The tunes have been selected with great care, and original ones have been contributed. The Queen has permitted the use of Gotha,' the composition of the late Prince Consort. The list of contributors, indeed, fills several pages of an interesting Preface. The type, although small, is very clear and legible. GAIETY THEATRE. MR. ALFRED THOMPSON calls 'Aladdin the Second' an "opera-bouffe" in the libretto; in the theatre play-bills it is styled an "operatic extravaganza." The last description is the more correct one, but it would require one of the compounds which the Germans have the privilege of resorting to, adequately to describe the novelty which, although strange here, is familiar enough in Paris. 'Aladdin the Second' is but quasi-operatic, for it has the many elements of the Parisian Revue of the year, of the ballet spectacles of the Châtelet, of the magical pantomimic, fairy, burlesque dramas of the Porte St.-Martin and the Ambigu. It is, in fact, a medley of many materials, exceedingly comic, often extravagant, sometimes dull and heavy, but in its entirety offering to the eye a peculiarly picturesque mise-en-scène, inasmuch as the couleur locale is chiefly Japanese in costumes, properties, and scenery. But, inasmuch as it would have been difficult for the lady lieges of the Tacoon of the Chimpanzees to have indulged in their terpsichorean tricks in close-fitting robes, the author ingeniously created an aquarium in the third tableau, in which the nymphs can dance in the customary fairy "fleshings." It was not a bad notion to renew the story of the wonderful lamp by creating a second Aladdin, and, by placing the "old lamp in a new light," produce no end of fantastic incidents as the lamp falls into different hands. The antagonism between the respective holders makes the fun ever and anon fast and furious, the most exhilarating part being when Ko-kil-ko, the master of Aladdin, is transformed into a Jack-in-the-Box, wound up by clockwork. This situation is made the most of by Mr. Toole, who, being compelled to speak in an unknown tongue, uses the guttural German jargon, intermingling with it most absurd associations of cockney places and slang. The character of a Remembrancer, who has to refresh the memory of the Tacoon in his quotations, which the official completes, of course, by caricature endings, is also somewhat amusing. But the dialogue on the first performance was much too long, and the artistes failed to give point and piquancy to some sly satire and comical allusions of the author. When it is added, that as a spectacle on new ground'Aladdin' has never been surpassed, enough will have been written as to the book. M. Hervé has certainly not been inspired by his subject. The rollicking gaiety of the Petit Faust' and 'Chilpéric' is wanting: his tone is much too sentimental for the situations. If the composition of the airs be judged apart from the drama, it will be admitted that there is a certain melodious flow at times, and some ingenious instrumentation. But the music is, on the whole, not exciting. M. Hervé has tried to imitate Offenbach in the invention of piquant accompaniments with the voice, but has not been so successful as the original inventor of a novel order, or disorder, perhaps, of obbligato. The romances of Volutine the Princess, sung by Miss Loseby, "I saw beneath a sun of splendour," and "Thy lovely voice my Thy lovely voice my spirit hears," and the scena of the Genie (Mr. Perrini), "A genie I am, but I hate," are the best specimens of M. Hervé's vocal writing. The incidental music to Mr. Dion Boucicault's interesting arrangement of "The Cricket on the Hearth,' one of the most charming Christmas creations of the late Charles Dickens, is by Herr Meyer Lutz, musical director and conductor at the Gaiety: it has the merit of avoiding the conventional tremolo in the pathetic situations with which the drama abounds, and of making use of old English airs and madrigals. The Dot of Miss Carlotta Addison and the Tilly Slowboy of Miss E. Farren are clever delineations; the senility of the Toymaker is exaggerated by Mr. Toole, but he evinces signs of pathos and power; the malignity of Tackleton is indicated in a marked manner by Mr. Stoyle. Burlesque acting has been prejudicial to these two low comedians, who really possess qualifications to take high ground as actors in legitimate drama. Musical Gossip. THE members of the Sacred Harmonic Society have experienced a great loss in the death of Mr. Thomas Brewer, their second President. He was only elected last month, after the lamented decease of Mr. Harrison. Mr. Brewer previously held the post of honorary secretary, having been one of the founders of the society, in 1832. He was present at the first performance this season. Mr. Brewer was secretary of the City of London School since 1836, having been appointed thereto whilst in the Town Clerk's office, on account of his exhumation of ancient records relative to that establishment. He was presented with the freedom of the city by the Corporation, in 1842, in recognition of his services. Mr. Brewer was the author of a life of John Carpenter, the founder of the City of London School, in the time of Henry the Fifth and Henry the Sixth, and of other biographies of eminent citizens. The deceased was in his sixty-fourth year, and was the senior servant of the Corporation. The holders of the books of the Annual Reports of the Sacred Harmonic Society will recognize in Mr. Brewer an able administrator and a zealous amateur. In the deaths of Mr. Harrison, Mr. Bowley, and Mr. Brewer during this year the Sacred Harmonic Society has lost the services of able officers who worked together efficiently to create one of our most valuable musical institutions. THE old English musical burletta turns up from time to time. Mr. Buckstone, who revived 'The Castle of Andalusia' and other old operatic dramas, has produced at the Haymarket Theatre O'Reefe's 'Poor Soldier,' which was originally represented under another title at Covent Garden Theatre in 1783. The casts at various times have included names of note in dramatic annals. Mrs. Kennedy, Mrs. Bannister, Miss Love, Miss Hallande, Miss P. Horton (Mrs. German Reed); Messrs. Bannister, Edwin, Wewitzer, Johnstone, Keeley, Bland, Harley, Farley, &c. It is now sustained by Miss Fanny Wright (Patrick), Miss Fanny Gwynne (Norah), Mr. Braid (Bagatelle), Mr. Everill (Darby), Mr. W. Gordon (Captain Fitzroy), Mr. Clarke (Father Luke). Shield's music loses none of its melodious freshness, ancient as the form may be; if his concerted pieces show no complications to puzzle the pundits, his ballads have the right feeling in echoing the sentiment of the words. "Dear Sir, this Brown Jug" may still be heard from provincial amateurs. The songs "How happy the soldier," "The wealthy fool with gold in store," "The meadows look cheerful," &c. are a lesson even to our modern composers, to rely more upon unaffected melody than on abstruse themes and boisterous accompaniments. THE opening of the Italian Opera-Buffa Company at the Lyceum Theatre, with Signor Tito Mattei as conductor, is fixed for the 2nd prox., Rossini's 'Italiana in Algera' being selected for the first opera. MR. BOOSEY announces the programme of his fifth season of Ballad Concerts, a very interesting and useful undertaking, first as preserving our ancient ballads, and secondly as introducing our modern ones. The director has given liberal commissions to many of our leading composers to provide new songs. The clever musician, Mr. Hatton, retains the conductorship, with Mr. Fielding to direct the part-songs. THE performances of classical chamber-music will be resumed at the Monday Popular Concerts on the 9th prox., when Madame Szarvadz (Fräulein Wilhemina Clauss), who will be recollected by her clever playing at the Musical Union some years since, will appear. THE Agricultural Hall, for its opening concert season, last Monday, had a programme characteristic of the war feeling of the present period. THERE is no temptation to dwell on the performance of The Messiah,' on the 23rd inst., in Exeter Hall, fine as the choral and orchestral ensemble was, inasmuch as there were two contrarieties, the first being that Madame Viardot Garcia, who was allotted the contralto music, was suffering from a relaxed throat, and was quite out of voice, and second, that Mr. Vernon Rigby was absent from the same cause, his place being taken at a very short notice by Mr. Kerr-Gedge. The tenor ably acquitted himself on the emergency, but there was a gloom over the oratorio, owing to the two disappointments. As 'The Messiah' was to be repeated on the 30th, with Madame Sinico and Madame Viardot Garcia, for the second time, and Mr. Vernon Rigby and Mr. Santley, the Athenæum may be able next week to record a better result as regards some of the principals. THE National Choral Society gave, under the direction of Mr. G. W. Martin, on last Monday, in Exeter Hall, a Concert of War Songs, and on Wednesday 'The Messiah,'-an odd association in one week of secular and sacred music.--Mr. Martin is following the good example of Mr. John Hullah whilst he was directing the St. Martin's Hall Concerts, namely, the introduction of young and rising talent. Miss A. Smythe, Miss Franklein, Mr. KerrGedge, and other singers, were first heard in oratorios performed by the National Choral Society. Last Wednesday Mr. Martin introduced a new soprano, Miss M. Scott, who met with an encouraging reception. She has youth on her side, and of course a fresh voice, which may be turned to good account with study and experience. She succeeded best in cantabile passages. In the bravura, "Rejoice greatly," she was too eager for display. Miss M. Wells sang nicely the contralto airs; Mr. R. Mason was the tenor, and Mr. Winn the basso. Ꭰ Ꭱ Ꭺ Ꮇ Ꭺ DRAMATISTS OF THE PRESENT DAY. III.-WESTLAND MARSTON, LL.D. DR. MARSTON has a theory of art. I do not mean that he is an innovator who has invented a method for himself. On the contrary, it is his distinction that the method he employs is traditional, and that its results are identical in kind with what has been left us by a long line of predecessors. His first success, gained so far back as the year 1842, was with a fiveact tragedy, The Patrician's Daughter'; and his latest contribution to the stage is a poetical play, 'Life for Life,' in which he manifests the same principles that are indicated in his earliest work. He is, with the possible exception of Baron Lytton, the sole living representative of the legitimate drama. It will be no news if I announce that the legitimate drama does not flourish on the London stage. A manager who is rash enough to produce a legitimate piece soon finds that his benches begin to thin. His reward is not great. Critics applaud his taste and his enterprise; everybody is anxious (for the sake of others) that his experiment should of diction, he propounds a doctrine whi forms the best defence of the poetical dram In real life, it is admitted, men do not ver their passions in phrases of imaginative beau But the poet, by endowing his characters with powers of expression which in actual life ther do not possess, does not fail in truth; for i makes men speak as they would, had they h capacity. The imperfection in their faculties. which, in crises of profound passion, preve the adequate expression of their feelings, is thus supplied by the dramatist, who compe sates us for overpassing the reality of visible life by disclosing to us the life which is invisible to all except himself. This view co one will be disposed to question. I am ready to admit that a real Macbeth would be unabl to express his terror and remorse in such larguage as Shakspeare has given him, and that the sight of the air-drawn dagger would be indicated only by some convulsive motion brief ejaculation. The words of the soliloq": are the very words that a man in Macbeth position feels, and would express, had he the requisite ability. They are appropriate to th speaker and to the situation. It is possiță, however, for a writer to be unable to exempl his own precept. Dr. Marston himself, for instance, in 'The Patrician's Daughter, mak Lord Lynterne request his solicitor to real a marriage settlement in these words:— Good friends, assembled here to confer honour succeed; but theatre-goers avoid his house. We have numerous theories in explanation. There are men who try to persuade themselves that only "something" is wanted to make the world return to its old dramatic loves, and once more admire what it admired in times past. Had we better actors, or had we critics with sounder judgments, or had we a Lord Chamber lain who was acquainted with his duties, the legitimate drama would, they think, resume its pristine rank and condition. I do not be lieve this. Changed habits in the people make them regard with apathy the representation of "the highest order of dramatic composition." Audiences are averse from seeing "the gradual development of a character" according to prescribed forms, and by means of language heard only on the stage. They prefer seeing him with the springs of his motives already traced and clearly marked; they must have him speak in natural tones and appropriate language; and, more than all, they insist that he and his development shall be subservient to the story. People are not to be blamed for this, any more than they should for declining to use the costume of Elizabeth's age instead of that common in our day. In itself it may be of more value, but, being inadequate to their daily use, it is wisely rejected for something else. This is what must be said about Dr. Marston's legitimate dramas. The Patrician's Daughter'; The Heart and the World,' a play in five acts; Philip of France and Marie de Meranie,' a tragedy in five acts; Strathmore,' a tragic play in five acts; Ann Blake,' a play in five acts; and 'A Life's Ransom,' a play in five acts, are all noble works; and some of them, in certain important particulars, must rank with But a play is written to be played, and if it the best productions of our dramatic literature. fails on the stage no compensatory merits can counterbalance its cardinal defect. Dr. MarThe dramas, however, have faults other ston and the legitimate dramatists seem to than those of diction. "The Patrician's ignore this manifest truth. They aim, not so Daughter' itself is defective in very importa much to satisfy those to whom they address particulars. Although over-redundant in in themselves, as to produce effects in conformity gery, the dialogue is often elegant and brilliant. with the ideal standard in their own minds. and contains passages equal in beauty to any The objections I have to make against their that one could easily name. In the constrac views cannot be new, for they have already tion of the piece and in the delineation of che been made by others; nor are they unknown racter there is much to censure. The plot to Dr. Marston, for he has himself discussed not ingenious; but it has the merit of be them. In a preface to 'A Life's Ransom,' the clear and of giving occasion for good str. matter is fairly if not fully examined. The situations, and the demerit of furnishin public complain that the school to which Dr. dénoûment of the most unwelcome charact Marston belongs in constructing their dramas I see no occasion arising out of the story: delay the introduction of incidents until conthe painful termination of the play. Proba siderable progress has been made in the story, the author refers it to art canons of which and that they adopt an ideal style of dialogue have no knowledge. But the behaviour in preference to that in daily and familiar Edgar Mordaunt, in taking revenge " use. This charge Dr. Marston, so far as the play Lady Mabel by declining her hand when in question is concerned, frankly admits to be was offered, because it was refused when t true. To me the confession is equivalent to an sought, is not to be excused on any acknowledgment that the initial phases of his the principles of Art with which I am drama are uninteresting, and that the language quainted. Here is the passage. Lord Lyntur is not suitable for our day. In extenuation, having, in the words I have already quee however, the author pleads the necessities of called upon the lawyer to read the matt the distinct school of art to which he belongs. settlement, is interrupted by Mordaunt, Representing man in his action on circum-retards the action by starting a discussion stance and in his passion under its re-action, the treatment due to a man of humble or he demands "time and opportunity for the He is interrupted by the Earl gradual development of those characteristics EARL. You trespass, sir, too much upon the time which are afterwards to be the source of events;" yet, on the same page, he takes credit for having told in five acts a story "which occupies less time than many which have been written in three." On the question It is difficult to believe that a nobleman of the year 1842 would so express himse adequate expression" of either gentle even had he the capacity. This is not "th simple. Of the high company. Methinks 'twere v. The lawyer should proceed. I am indiffe EARL. Mean you to wed my daughter? MORD. (turning fiercely on him) MORD. (all rise in surpris MABEL. I do beseech you hear him. I am curious To learn what sins of my commission urged To deed so spiteful. If I had wrongedLORDC. Even then it was most pitiful revenge. I agree with his Lordship-the revenge is most pitiful, and would undoubtedly excite indignation in real life. The last words of the heroine are, "I am happy-very happy"; but it is difficult to conceive that her feelings can be shared by any audience. In 'Strathmore' we have the same defects. This play is undoubtedly the author's best. It is full of delicacy and true humour. The several pairs of lovers, with their separate interests converging to one issue, while a solemn event looms behind the whole action, tend to absorb the reader or the spectator in the progress of the story. It fulfils the requirements of dramatic art, whatever they may be, for it excites the interest of the audience. The characters are natural, and are naturally developed; the situations are well managed; and the author reaches the height of his literary power contemporaneously with the climax of the passion exhibited; in other words, the poet and the dramatist are in harmony. Even here, however, the action is at first tedious, and the close of the drama unsatisfactory. Asin 'The Patrician's Daughter,' it is the heroine's death jars upon our feelings; so here, it is the hero whose sad end unpleasantly excites our sensibility. The main object of the dramatist, as of every artist, is to give pleasure. Pain may, of course, be represented so as to give the spectator a high degree of satisfaction; and this Shakspeare and the Greek dramatists, for instance, have accomplished. But in the cases under consideration, I do not think the author has been successful. If the existing termination was necessary to make the two pieces tragedies, I could wish the unhappy ending had been evaded. The tragedies would then have been admirable plays. In all the dramas mentioned, Dr. Marston seems to have worked according to his conscience. Every word is weighed and every sentiment considered before dealt out. His characters, as I have said, are natural, but natural only in a sense. We never meet them; we never expect to meet them. They are types whose archetypes exist only in the author's brain. Those of them who do not occupy a foreground are introduced not for their own sake, but to exhibit contrasts in situation with the chief personages. It would be wrong to say these dramas have not succeeded with the public. As literature, several of them have gone through many editions, and, with the exception of 'The Heart and the World,' all of them, when represented on the stage, are received by the press and the public with great approbation yet there can be no doubt that : the poetical drama, even sustained by Dr. Marston's genius and supported by such exponents as Mr. Macready, Miss Helen Faucit, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean, Mr. G. V. Brooke, Mr. and Mrs. Hermann Vezin, Mr. Dillon, and Mr. Phelps, all of whom have been cast in his plays,-is unable to maintain itself. This is no reproach to Dr. Marston. have been fitted with parts altogether unsuited to Nor can I see that it can fairly be charged as their talents, has been played under the title of a reproach upon our time. A Midsummer 'Found Drowned.' 'A Christmas Carol' has furNight's Dream,'-that exquisite burlesque, in-and 'The Cricket on the Hearth' that of a nished the subject of a drama at the PRINCESS's; which Shakspeare has satirized the actors and second at the GAIETY; while 'Nell,' founded upon the masques of his day,-is, I am told, less 'The Old Curiosity Shop,' is continued at the remunerative to the managers of the theatre OLYMPIC. where it is now acted than a burlesque at a little house in Soho; but I do not, therefore, condemn the public, or pretend to think they prefer the author of Whittington, Junior, and his Sensation Cat' to Shakspeare. Those who have the sort of intellectual appetite the legitimate drama is designed to gratify do not seek it in a theatre. Every age has its fashions, and it is clear the legitimate drama is not in fashion now. Fortunately, Dr. Marston has not confined himself to the production of legitimate plays. The qualities he exhibits in these are, however, the very qualities which would fit him to excel in any department of the drama to which he might address himself, and he has given us proof of his ability to accomplish triumphant success in other directions. 'Borough Politics,' a domestic drama in one act, produced at the Haymarket, in 1846, is a stock piece in the country; The Wife's Portrait,' produced at the same theatre, in 1862, always charms; 'Donna Diana' secures the attention and applause of the audience solely by the admirable manner in which the progress of the story is conducted, and, latterly, we have in 'A Hero of Romance' and 'The Favourite of Fortune,' two pieces in which the author has displayed the highest results of his art. Both these plays abound in characterization, and are as free from the twaddling realism of the tea-cup-and-saucer drama on the one hand as they are from the tricky realism of the sensational drama on the other. They give us true pictures of life, painted by an artist who in his presentation knows what to select and what to reject from among the realities which present themselves. The psychological element which in his tragedies predominates over the dramatic is in these subdued or altogether excluded. In conception and in treatment they are equally meritorious; and while presenting us with highly-finished sketches of every-day life the painter's brush is so delicate that no exception can be made to its tones. By producing his later comedies, Dr. Marston not only made an opportunity for so popular an actor as Mr. Sothern to prove himself capable of something higher than buffoonery, but has placed himself in the first rank of English comedists. Q. CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENTS. CHRISTMAS performances are, so far as fashionable London is concerned, rapidly losing their distinctive character. For two consecutive years pantomime at the West-end has been confined to the two great houses of Drury Lane and Covent Garden, and at more than half of the fashionable theatres no novelty of any kind has been attempted. The list of Christmas entertainments for this year is meagre. So much public interest and sorrow have attended the death of Charles Dickens-the fact is not surprising-that versions of his works have been attempted at several houses. These constitute, with the exception of Mr. Robertson's comedy of 'Dreams' which has been revived at the Holborn Theatre, the whole of the serious productions attempted. At the OPÉRA COMIQUE a version of 'Our Mutual Friend,' noticeable for nothing but the ingenuity with which the interest has been left out, and the actors of the theatre For DRURY LANE Mr. Blanchard has written a pantomime upon the subject of the Dragon of of Mother Shipton. It is in all respects a favourWantley, with which he has associated the legend able specimen of this kind of composition, free from vulgarity, pleasantly and easily written, and containing a measure of daintiness and lyrical grace. For the fairy portion the marriage of the Thames and Medway supplies a basis, and this offers an opportunity for an assemblage of tributary streams, underlies the whole pantomime, which is conwhich is a scene of great beauty. This marriage structed with more art than is usual in such works; and the Transformation-scene, which is very splendid, shows Britannia presiding over the meeting of the waters in the Sea, whose ruler she assumes to be. The principal characters in the introductory portion were enacted by the Vokes family, and the same indefatigable performers divided with Messrs. Stonette, Paul Herring, F. Evans and Miss Grosvenor the labours of the harlequinade. The comic business was good of its class. A scene with waxwork figures was a more genuine piece of pantomimic fooling than has been seen on the stage for some years. There were too many "infant monstrosities," but the entire performance was brisk and genuinely amusing. At COVENT GARDEN 'The Sleeping Beauty; or, Harlequin and the Spiteful Fairy, has been played. It is due to the conjoined labours of Messrs. Gilbert a'Beckett and C. H. Ross. Great splendour of scenery and music of an order much superior to that ordinarily heard in pantomimes scarcely compensate for the absence of the spontaneous selfexplanation of the scenes, which is the highest recommendation of this class of entertainment to those for whom it is specially designed. We could have spared some of the long recitatives and airs of Miss Julia Mathews, who sang well enough, nevertheless, for a little more fun. What amusement was afforded by the pantomime was due to Messrs. Payne, who have not forfeited the reputaSome of the scenes are of a very elaborate description they have long enjoyed as pantomimists. tion, and the Transformation-scene, representing the Home of the Enchanted Bells, is both brilliant and tasteful. A representation of the impenetrable forest, in which the castle of the Sleeping Beauty is buried, is, however, the best scene in the piece. The manner in which the trees take goblin forms, and menace those who invade the solitude, is exceedingly weird and picturesque. Several pretty ballets are introduced, and the whole may vie in splendour with preceding pantomimes at Covent Garden. 'Little Gil Blas,' at the PRINCESS's is a strange medley of burlesque and drama, combining, with some ingenuity, the most common faults of both forms of composition. It is intolerably long, moreover, occupying at least twice the time that should be accorded to a piece of its class. Dramatic force is shown in the early portions, but the whole is rather a series of disconnected or, at best, imperfectly, connected scenes than a play. At the beginning of each scene so many new characters are introduced that the spectator, anxious to preserve any slightest thread of connexion, finds himself compelled frequently to resume the kind of attention ordinarily confined to the commencement of a piece. Considerable liberties are taken with the plot, the only attempts at burlesque being the adoption of female exponents for most of the masculine characters, and the conversion of Dr. Sangrado into an Irishman. Gil Blas appears in turns as the occupant of the robbers' cave, the rescuer of innocence in the person of Donna Aurora, the pupil of Sangrado in the noble art of medicine, the lover of Laura, Donna Florimonde's waitingmaid, the street singer, and, lastly, as the con spirator. He escaped the fate with which, when he assumes the last character, he is menaced, and the piece concludes with some pretty but not very comprehensible revels, amid which a real fountain is introduced. Taste is shown in the scenery and decorations, and the ballets introduced are very bustling and effective. But the whole languished in consequence of excessive length, and the usual complimentary calls, scarcely ever wanting on a first night, were not enforced by the jaded and much diminished audience left at the close. Mrs. Howard Paul acted with spirit and vivacity as Gil Blas, giving the character remarkable truthfulness and fire. She was well supported by Miss Minnie Sydney and Mr. Shiel Barry.-The lugubrious drama of A Christmas Carol' was also performed, with Mr. Vollaire in the character of Scrooge. Mr. Clayton afterwards appeared as March Hare in the farce He's a Lunatic.' The STRAND has produced a burlesque by Mr. Strachan, an author hitherto unknown to London; its title is 'Coeur de Lion Revised and His Enemies Corrected,' and its subject is drawn from Scott's novels of "The Talisman' and 'Ivanhoe.' A more vapid production has seldom been put upon the stage. Not a joke, not a clever rhyme, nor a droll suggestion relieved its dreary length; yet the piece was successful! The attractions of dances, songs, bright dresses, scenery and music appear to be unending, and the public appetite for them is insatiable. Every sign of appreciation that encore and call could afford attended accordingly the burlesque during its progress and at its termination. Miss Jenny Lee, Miss Bella Goodall, Mr. Terry, and Mr. Paulton played the principal parts. The GIFT-BOOKS for 1871. ominus at one theatre and W. Farren Fusbos at At all the transpontine and suburban houses Dedicated by express permission and desire to Her M Majesty the Queen. In 1 vol. small to choicely pr specially made, with Title Vignette by Sir N engraved on Steel by C. H. Jeens, bound, cloth extra, p GENTLE LIFE. Essays in Aid ứ Formation of Character. By HAIN FRISWELL EDITION, revised and selected from the Two Series "We need say nothing of these able and thoughtful ey that they appear in a new and neat edition in ore readers cannot but be pleased to know that their fry now dedicated to the royal and gracious lady with wh a favourite, and who, as the author truly says, bas in the her trials, and her sorrows illustrated the lessons whe perfectly to inculcate.'"-Times, December 16, 156 of the KNIGHT of the RED CROSSE, from Queene. Illustrated with Twelve Original Drawing Morrell. Imperial 8vo. cloth extra, 25. CRIES. By Mrs. BURY PALLISER, Author of Th Book of Lace. With 293 Illustrations, beautifully p finest paper. Square 8vo. cloth, 218. RALIST. By LUCIEN BIART. With 117 beautiful on Wood. Edited and Adapted by PARKER GILY of All Round the World,' &c. Post svo. cloth ext price 10s. 6d. ment is entitled 'My Son Jack, or the Gaping, MY APINGI KINGDOM. With Life Great Sahara. Sketches of the Chace of the Ogris p &c. Numerous Illustrations. Small post ro, cloth extra, GEORGES DUPLESSIS. With 34 fine Woodcats sellin 10 Photograph Reproductions in Autotype, illustre fo Stages of the Art of Engraving. Square to da z edges, price 128. 6d. embracing the SPANISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, IN, FLEMISH, and DUTCH SCHOOLS, &c. By LOUISTER Numerous Illustrations and Photographs, beautify p toned paper. 128. 6d. Comprising the most Popular English Poems fre la Tennyson, with Notices of their Authors. With IM trations Re-issued in a new and elegant Binding, as a frac tion Volume. One Guinea. of the day. His quick succession of leaps, often of The FAVOURITE POEMS of ENGLANT ANTIQUARIAN NOTES. For the ADELPHI Mr. Farnie has welded together, rather clumsily, the stories of 'Lord Lovell and Lady Nancy Bell,' 'Lochinvar,' 'Old Simon the Cellarer,' and 'The Mistletoe Bough.' The result thus obtained is not very homogeneous, nor is it characterized by much humour or intelligibility. But for its length, however, which is quite preposterous, it would scarcely have failed wholly to interest the audience. When scenes as bright as some it contains are exhibited, the public is not wont to be exacting, either as regards their origin, or the means by which they are obtained. More than once during the early portions of 'The Mistletoe Bough,' as this rather hybrid production is called, when the stage, crowded with gay and animated figures, presented a scene of great beauty "O horrible! O horrible!"—An American Corand bustle, the plaudits of an audience unconscious respondent, Mr. W. B. Crittenden, inquires who is the right speaker of the line "O, horrible! of, or indifferent to, the fact that M. Hervé was entitled to the credit of originating what gave them, horrible! most horrible!" in Hamlet,' act i. sc. 5. This is one of the numerous Shakspearean questions so much delight, were both loud and long. But duller and duller grew the extravaganza as it proto which no decisive reply can be given. All that ceeded, until all sense of past enjoyment was at can be said is, that the line is part of the Ghost's length lost in that of present weariness. The whole, speech in all the old copies; that it is not so much out of place there as to render an alteration absoto quote the words of Paine, "rose like a rocket lutely necessary; and fell like a stick." Some spirited acting was while, on the other hand, it shown by Mr. Wright as Lord Lovell, Mr. J. appears more naturally to belong to Hamlet. The Curfew Bell.-May I ask a simple question? Rouse as a Baron De Bell, Mrs. Alfred Mellon as Was it essential in the olden times that the Young Lochinvar, Mr. Ashley as Simon the Celcurfew-bell should be tolled from a church turret larer, Mdlle. Debreux as Philip the Falconer, Miss Elise Holt as Joe Miller, and Miss Dubois as Mary the Maid of the Inn. The names of these characters show of what strangely incongruous materials the extravaganza is composed.-Previous to its production, a new adaptation from the French, by Mr. B. Webster, jun., was given. The title of this is 'Smoke.' It is a well-devised but over-lachrymosc drama, exhibiting the disastrous results that may possibly spring from a wife keeping from the knowledge of her husband a secret, however innocent or unimportant in appearance. Some scenes, in which the rage and despair of a husband maddened with jealousy and drink found vent in furious menace and threatened violence, were decidedly too strong, and provoked loud and merited expressions of disapproval. With alterations, the play may hold its place for a while. It was fairly acted by Mr. and Mrs. Billington, Miss Furtado, Mr. Ashley, and Mr. Stephenson. The old burlesque of 'Bombastes Furioso,' once the favourite of the public, when Liston and Munden were rivals as Bombastes, when Mathews was Artax or steeple, or did the watchmen give the warning W. H. R. Bird or Bride.-Mr. Skeat misrepresents me: I had assumed that Chaucer (if, indeed, he did translate the Rose Romance, which seems to be questioned across the Atlantic, is he to be choused his original in this place, which fact is incontestout of all his accredited writings?) slightly altered of a bird or befugt, he altered the latter word able. Having before him the simple, unaffected a NEW NOVELS and STORIES DAISY NICHOL: a New Novel. By L HARDY, Author of 'A Casual Acquaintance.' 3 rok post MONK of MONK'S OWN: a Novel LEGH KNIGHT, Author of Tonic Bitters.' 3 volt JOSEPH and his FRIEND. By BAL TAYLOR. 1 vol. post 8vo. LORNA DOONE. Second Edition. 6. A PARISIAN FAMILY: a Tale for GH their Teens. Translated from the French of Madame DE WITTS, by the Author of John Halifax, Gentleman Illustrations. Fcap. cloth, price 58. WE GIRLS: a New Story. By the Art of Faith Gartney's Girlhood.' Fcap. cloth, gilt edges, & Bed SILKEN CORDS and IRON FETTERS. By MAUD JEANNE FRANC. Small post Bra LITTLE PUSSY WILLOW; a Story for E and Girls, by Mrs. STOWE. Feap. cloth, 28. ed. NEW WORKS IN GENERAL FRANCE, from the Earliest Times to the Year 17% Nam the Rising Generation, by the Author of The History of ( tion in Europe.' Illustrated with 100 full-page Engravings, in and II., with Coloured Map of Ancient Gaul, now ready, 2 "In every sense a popular book, written in a clear and inters style."-Saturday Review. The CHILDREN'S CRUSADE: an Episok the Thirteenth Century. By G. Z. GRAY. Crown 8vo, cloth, 7 TENT-LIFE in SIBERIA, among the Koraks and other Tribes in Kamtchatka and N Asia. By GEORGE KENNAN. 1 vol. with Map, prila "We strongly recommend this book as one of the most enter volumes of travel that has appeared for some years."-Alieves The LIFE of ARTHUR TAPPAN of into bower; but I did not define in which sense for which the multitude have no leisure. A. H. TO CORRESPONDENTS.-W. H.-J. W.-W. C. B.-A. W. B. UNITED STATES. With a Preface by the Rev. NEW! SKETCHES from AMERICA. By J WHITE, Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford Part 1 2. A Pic-Nic to the Rocky Mountains. 3. The Irish in Am 8vo. cloth, 128. HALL LL.B. Post 8vo. cloth, 78. 6d. of AMERICA in 1869. By TWO ENGLISHMEN. CO London: SAMPSON LOW, SON & MARSTON, JUVENILE BOOKS. Offered at 8. d. Published at 8. d. 31 0 MOUNTAINS and Lakes of Switzerland and Italy, 64 Coloured Views by C. C. Pyne, 4to. cloth POE'S Poetical Works, with 25 Original 5 0 20 6 ished 28476 6 0 ELEGANT GIFT-BOOKS OF THE SEASON, SELECTED FROM S. & T. GILBERT'S EXTENSIVE GENERAL LITERATURE. ARTEMUS Ward's Collected Works, complete, with Portrait and Fac-simile, post 8vo. cloth.. BARHAM, Life and Letters of the Rev. Richard Harris Barham, edited by his Son, 2 vols. cr. 8vo. cloth BOOK of Memories, by S. C. Hall, illustrated with nearly 100 Engravings, 4to. cloth gilt BURKE'S Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage of the British Empire for 1871, large 8vo. cloth gilt CASSELL'S Illustrated Travels, edited by H. W. Bates, New Volume (Vol. II.), profusely Illustrated, folio, cloth gilt CRUIKSHANK'S Comic Almanack, 18351843, with hundreds of Illustrations, thick post 8vo. cl. ENGLISH Painters of the Present Day, Essays by distinguished Authors, 12 Autotypes, 4to. cloth gilt FROUDE'S History of England, Cabinet Edition, complete, 12 vols. post 8vo. cloth GEMS of Modern French Art, with 16 choice Photographs, 4to. cloth elegant GENTLE Life, Queen Edition, comprising the best portions of both Series, 1 vol. small 4to. cloth GROTE'S History of Greece, New Cabinet Edition, complete, with Maps and Plans, 12 vols. post 8vo. cloth HAMERTON'S Unknown River, with 37 fine Etchings, India proofs, large Svo. cloth gilt HOLLY BUSH Hall, Hunting Sketches by G. Bowers, 29 Plates, oblong 4to. fancy boards HOOD (Selections from), with 22 Steel Plates by Birket Foster, 4to. cloth elegant JERUSALEM (The Recovery of), by Capt. Wilson. R.E., and Capt. Warren, R.E., 50 Engravings, 8vo. cloth 0 17 0 5 0 50 50 17 0 5 0 BALLANTYNE'S Floating Light on the gilt CYRIL Ashley, a Tale, by A. L. O. E., post 8vo. cloth gilt DEBORAH'S Drawer, by Eleanor Grace O'Reilly, with Illustrations, gilt edges DETAINED in France, a Tale of the First French Empire, by A. Giberne, post 8vo. cloth FAIRY Book, selected by the Author of 'John Halifax,' with Coloured Plates, post 8vo. cloth gilt FROUDE'S Cat's Pilgrimage, with 6 Illustrations by Mrs. Blackburn, 4to. enamelled boards HEARTS of Oak: Early English Adventure, by W. N. Sainsbury, with 6 Illustrations, cloth gilt .. HOLIDAY Camp; or, Three Days' Pic-Nic, by R. St. John Corbet, 12mo. cloth gilt HOLIDAY Pleasures, with 12 Etchings by Rudolf Geissler, 4to. cloth gilt HOUSEHOLD Stories from the Land of Hofer, with several Illustrations, 12mo. cloth gilt HUNTING GROUNDS of the Old World, by The Old Shekarry," with Illustrations, 8vo. cloth gilt KINGSTON'S In the Eastern Seas, a Tale for Boys, with Illustrations, Svo. cloth gilt, gilt edges LEAR'S Book of Nonsense, New Edition, with 114 droll Illustrations, coloured, 4to. cloth gilt.. LITTLE Red Riding-Hood Picture Book, with 24 pages of Coloured Plates by Kronheim, 4to. cloth gilt .. LITTLE Rosy's Picture Book, with 24 Offered at 8. d. ADAMS'S Tales of the Civil Wars, with 8. d. 4 2 6 3 AUNT Judith's Recollections, a Tale of the Eighteenth Century, post 8vo. cloth 4 2 4 2 31 6 13 0 4 2 42 0 4 2 45 0 2 1 HISTORY of Joseph and his Brethren, 52 pages, illuminated by H. Warren, 4to. cloth gilt 12 0 JAMESON'S Beauties of the Court of Charles II, 21 fine Portraits, imp. 8vo. cloth gilt NATURE and Art, many hundred Cuts 19 0 and Coloured Plates, 8vo. cloth gilt SHAKSPEARE, 15 6 8 0 tions, imp. 8vo. cloth gilt SCENES from the Winter's Tale, 48 Illuminated Pages, 4to. cloth gilt SKETCHES of Japanese Manners and Customs, by Silver, 25 Coloured Plates, 4to. cloth gilt TWO Centuries of Song, by Walter Thornbury, illustrated, 4to. cloth gilt 35 0 The SAME, morocco elegant, with gilt clasp FLAGS of the British Army-Grenadier Guards, 21 Coloured Plates, 4to. fancy boards GEMS from Painters and Poets, 8 WaterColour Fac-similes, 4to. cloth gilt KEBLE'S Evening Hymn, 16 Illuminated 21 0 Plates, 4to. cloth gilt LONDON Labour and London Poor, by 9 0 13 6 16 O 8 6 17 6 4 3 50 66 4 2 24 0 63 21 0 7 6 Mayhew, 94 Illustrations, 4 vols. 8vo. cloth gilt OLD English Ballads, with 50 Illustrations, 4to. cloth gilt GOLDSMITH'S Poetical Works, with Portrait, Woodcuts, and 12 charming Steel Vignettes, 4to. cloth extra 16 0 9 0 5 0 4 2 6 3 17 0 WANDERINGS in Every Clime, edited by OUT on the Pampas; or, the Young Settlers, by G. A. Henty, with Illustrations, 12mo. cloth gilt WATERTON'S Essays on Natural History, 6 -1 0 edited by N. Moore, B.A., with Illustrations, 8vo. cl. WINDOW (The), by Alfred Tennyson, a Series of Songs, Music by A. Sullivan, 4to. cl. elegant 17 0 6 3 5 0 3 6 WONDERS of Engraving, by G. Duplessis, 34 Woodcuts and 10 Autotypes, 8vo. cloth elegant D'AUBIGNE'S Reformation, with superior HOOD, The Choicest Pieces of; with 9 exquisite Steel Plates by Gustave Doré, folio, cloth gilt 17 0 LEECH'S Pictures of Life and Character, 20 New Series (the Fifth), oblong folio, boards 80 DITTO strong half morocco, gilt, cloth sides TURNER'S Celebrated Landscapes, with 16 Autotype Reproductions and Memoir, folio, cl. ext. 34 0 IDYLLS of the King, by Alfred Tennyson, complete with 37 superb Plates by Gustave Doré, 36 folio, cloth gilt PICTURES from English Literature, 20 .. THE NEW BIBLE COMMENTARY, by the Bishops and Clergy of the Anglican Church. Vol. I. The Pentateuch. S. & T. Gilbert beg to solicit subscribers' names to this important Work, Vol. I. of which is announced to be issued shortly. (Pub. Lished price 17. 18.) 10 5 60 SEA (The) and its Wonders, by Mary and Elizabeth Kirby, profusely illustrated, small 4to. cloth gilt Prospectuses on application. & T. GILBERT have on VIEW a fine COLLECTION of JUVENILE BOOKS, adapted to all ages and every class of reader, from One Shilling upwards. C CORNHILL Gallery, 100 Pictures by Thackeray, Millais, Noel Paton and others, folio, cloth extra, gilt NESFIELD'S Medieval Architecture, with 100 Plates by W. E. Nesfield, folio, cloth extra OLD England, a Pictorial Museum, by C. 59 Knight, Coloured Plates and Woodcuts, 2 v. folio, el. PYNE'S Lake Scenery of England, with 24 beautifully Tinted Plates, large 8vo. cloth gilt A COLLECTION of 100 Drawings by G. H. Thomas, with Descriptive Text, 4to. cloth gilt GREAT Fun Stories for Children, by Hood and Archer, 48 Coloured Plates, 4to. cloth gilt POST-OFFICE London Directory, 1870. Used copies of this important Work of Reference, published at 368., offered at 128.; or copies nearly as good as new for 148. Apply direct. GOLDEN Thoughts from Golden Fountains, with upwards of 70 exquisite Illustrations by eminent artists, 4to. cloth elegant, pub. at 218., offered at 108. 6d. DIARIES, DIRECTORIES, POCKET-BOOKS, ALMANACKS, and all ANNUALS for the New Year supplied at a Discount of 2d. in the 18. from the published price for cash. Orders are recommended to be given at once to ensure early delivery. REMITTANCES. NOTICE. To prevent delay in the execution of Orders, they should in all cases be accompanied by payment, which may be made either by l'ost-office order, payable at the General Post-office, London, or, if the amount is under 108., in postage-stamps. S. & T. GILBERT, Remainder and General Booksellers, 4, Copthall-buildings, back of the Bank of England, E.C. CATALOGUES GRATIS and POSTAGE FREE. 12 6 GRAY'S Elegy, with 16 Fac-simile WaterColour Drawings, small 4to. cloth elegant 7 6 4 2 21 0 4 2 31 6 7 6 21 0 26 0 96 9 6 10 6 50 4 2 3 9 3 9 4 2 4 2 2 11 4 2 4 2 |