Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 9th May 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 19

Page 19
Page 19
19 of 24

On this page

  • Departments (1)
    • pj » ^cb lj E ^vlrii5» * "?
  • Text (5)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      The New Zeal Anders. New Zedlcmd, Or Zea...

      — Thfe usual and the sole apparel of tbe men , the year through , night and - * s our common white or red blanket fastened at the neck , and worn like the *~ 3 " ' * Shirts « , nd trousers , however , are now frequently worn ; and near the Ko man s g ^^ holidayS ) g ^ g Exquisite will array himself in dress-coat or tO !! Vando 2 le the girls in tall hat , stiff collar , and tight boots . The ladies ( simwmunditus ) are chiefly aixayed in pink and blue cotton » roundabouts " ( a bedsort of garment , cut short ) with a blanket for a mantle ; but they often have S -rUand satins in the " kist" at home ? and gay damsels , at feast and races , will take Thi addle with gauntlets and silver whip , habit , hat , and plume . The Maori likes to rtake of the amusements of the settlers ; is a bold rider at races ; and enjoys him-* plfafc reeattas , anniversary fetes , and merry-makings with something of that cheer-? 1 vivacity and good-humour which delight us in the French . A chief , asked to / Knewith the Governor , will acquit himself with a grave elegance worthy of Belirravia and on his return , relate to his listening village the minutest features of the foist what he had to eat and drink , what the Governor said to him and what he said " to the Governor , Jiow the Lady who sat next him was not so pretty as the Governor ' s wife , but wore more rings ; and how another fair creature pestered him with silly questions , and even asked him to dance .

      Mr Hursthouse ' s two volumes form a compendious manual of all such information as is necessary to the New Zealand colonist . Its plan is good , and it seems to have been carefully constructed by a writer thoroughly familiar with his subject . We will not flatter the author so warmly as he flatters himself , but we may accredit his work as one with which an emigrant to New Zealand may profitably occupy the leisure hours of his voyage . The substance is neatly packed together , and the classification of topics is admirable .

      Is The Untenance Of The With J Max 9,185...

      is the untenance of the with J Max 9 , 1857 THE IEABIE , 461

      A Book On Thout Fishing. The Practical A...

      A BOOK ON THOUT FISHING . The Practical Angler j or , the Art of Fly Fishing . More particularly applied to Clear Water . By W . C . Stewart . Edinburgh : Adam Black and Co . If a Cockney sportsman , brandishing a rod and line , hurries out for a day to Richmond , to Hampton , to the banks of the Lea , or any other piscatorial resort , and , after painfully dancing his fly on the suriiice of the stream , returns home at nig ht with an empty pannier , he feels himself privileged to curse the sport as slow , and to stigmatize all men who patiently sit for hours in their quiet punts as a set of fools , never failing to apply the pedantic definition of Johnson to the whole race of anglers . But fishing , let it be well understood , is not a slow occupation except to those who are unskilled in its practices . It requires constant watching , constant attention , and is full of excitement . Less time and labour are necessary to make a man a good shot than a good angler . For , after all , there is much to be learnt and studied to become proficient in this art . Neatness of hand ,

      quickness of eye , energy « nd perseverance—all these qualifications may appertain to the young artist , and yet he may be still unskilful , and why ? Because he fails jn the most necessary qualification—observation . He must become acquainted with the habits of the fish , the places to which they resort in search of particular kinds of food , and of the influence of the weather upon them . This knowledge he can only attain by constant observation and as patient study . We must not , however , be led to write a dis sertation on the subject instead of a notice of the book . Mr . Stewart ' s manual appears very a propos for those who delig ht in angling . He lays down good rules for ascertaining in what streams the best fish may be found , and the most skilful method of angling for them . His subject is confined to trout fishing , but then it includes every branch of it—' artificial flyfishing , ' ' angling with the worm , ' < May-fly fishing , ' ' minnow and partail fishing , - * * lock fishing , ' & c , whilst a short chapter or two is devoted to fly dressing , and the angler's equipment . We readily recommend tho work to amateurs of the rod and line .

      Pj » ^Cb Lj E ^Vlrii5» * "?

      € l ) t Irte-- *

      Royal Academy. I.—The Stout Tki-Lino. Th...

      ROYAL ACADEMY . I . —THE STOUT TKI-LINO . The impulse or the power of art to tell & story is poorly exemplified in the present exhibition . The stories best tokl are of the slightest conceivable character ; the most powerful stories , with a few exceptions , are told feebly , and sometimes unintelligibly . Tried by its highest test , therefore , art may be considered at a grave discount this season—much below the average ; and the exhibition must be tried by some other test to find what it is really doing to carry on the work of progress . The remark applies most especially to the best-known painters , young as well as old . Mr . Frith , who has been able to give us in brilliant form some of Moliere ' s most piquant scenes , this year conies down to the portrait of a very insignificant " London Flower-girl , " and " Kate Nickleby at Madame MantaliniV—Kate , a very fair spocimon of middle-class young ladyhood in a humble position , but nothing more . Hkrhkht leaves the telling of

      of stories , profane or sacred , to tell the story of a sea-beach on the const France . And Millais , besides the first trifle from his pencil , only tolls one simple story in a quaint manner , and half tells u more stirring tale . The trifle , u JNews from Home , " represents a soldier in the trenches reading a letter . The work of the trench , the occupation of figures in the background , the costumo of the Highlander— . the fur cap , the red coat , the ruddy complexion—are all unmistakable , likewise the letter ; and the expression of the countenance is appropriate . But the picture is very small , it is scarcely finished on tho scale of its miniature size , and it is not particularly striking in any way , except as a ( our do force in colouring to fetch out tho intensity ot' red . The tulo which it tells most forcibly is , that the regiment of Highlanders wear etunning rod coats . Mr . Pickeksgili , puts before us a ' Duko Orsino and Viola , "—the disguised lady telling her sorrows in disguised language . Tho subject is as old as tins hills . ; it has been told hundreds of times exactly in tho saino way ; and the beat that can bo snid is , that the Duke looks gentlemanly and sincere , and Viola sad : but what then ?

      One of tho *> est works over produced by C W . Cope is called " Breaklasttime— . Morning Games : " and it points oar morul . A little girl is mounted on n footstool : she is told to shut her eyes and open her mouth ; eho has duly done bo , and she is waiting with great impatience to find how largo shall be the lump of sugar which a youmg lady ia putting into her mouth ; while , a third

      girl , of intermediate age , watching co young one amusement . Now the whole of . this story , all its hopes and fears , and the characteristics of the drama , come out with great strength ; the morning costume , not yet forgetful of the toilet , is finished off with a perfect knowledge of young ladies' arrangements , of pinafore and socks , and even of tablecloths . It seems that British art is able to present in perfection the vicissitudes of a lump of sugar , and Mr . Cope attains absolute success in this part . Mr . Lkslie attempts to illustrate the Spectator by a picture called " Sir Roger de Coverley in Church . " Landlord of the whole congregation , Sir JRoger is exercising his duty as moral policeman , in seeing that nobody sleeps at church ; and he is awakening a dozing Hodge . There is the church , with its peniike pews ; a clergyman in unmistakable surplice ; an old woman , who is old ; a few of the gentry ; and a few of the rustics ; the whole tinted with a certain lilac blush , which has a tendency to creep over the colouring of Mr . Leslie ; but the picture conveys nothing whatever beyond the bare fact , which is quite sufficiently told in the five lines that are quoted in the catalogue . Perhaps , if the painter had quoted those lines , and left a blank space on the wall , the intelligent visitor would have conjured up a more living likeness of Sir Roger than the

      diagram before him . We come , indeed , to a very different style of subject in the " Prison Window —Sevilla , 1857 , " by Mr . J . Philip , with its companion , " Charity—Sevilla , 1857 . " In the prison is some rough fellow of Seville—he may have been taken up for a brawl or for an insurrection ; he is a strong-armed , strong-bearded man , rather below the middle age . Beneath the window , outside , stands a young woman in rougli clothes tinted with the brilliant colours that are favoured in Spain , but Avorn almost to rags ; she is lifting up an infant , in order that the imprisoned father may kiss it . The man is straining through the bars , and is just able to reach the infant ' s forehead . The mother has her cheek against the back of the uplifted child ; her countenance is downc ? ist , and her left hand reaches up to clasp her husband's , as that is placed round the child ' s head . ields entirelto

      The countenance of the woman is not distorted by grief , but it y y a grave sadness . Her action is simple ; her figure , although much concealed by the coarseness of her clothing , is lithe and shapely ; and the whole effect , with naturaj . action and natural emotion , is that of perfect grace . The strong feeling of natural passion—the affection between child and parent , husband and wifeis brought out in great strength , and there is a powerful effect without grimacing or posture-making . The colouring of the picture is characteristic and vigorous . It is somewhat too opaque ^ ana there is a degree of English mannerism bleaded with a style adapted to the glowing climate of Seville . For instance , the li ^ ht on the child ' s head is expressed too much by dabs of grey , so that at the distance where the spectator can read the expression of the countenances , the raw material in the handling makes itself too apparent . wall of the with

      We contrast this picture , on the fourth great room , the paintin" by Maclise on the opposite wall . William III . is visiting Peter the Great at his shipwright labours . Peter , a young man of large stature and vigorous limbs , is reposing from work , and receives William in an attitude that Mr . Macready might have conceived for the purpose . He stands on one leg ; the other leg raised upon a block , his elbow on the raised knee , his chin on the bent wrist , the other arm akimbo upon the rather strongly pronounced hip . A Russian companion is hacking away at a block of wood so near Peter that the courage of the great man is shown in his indifference to strokes that menace the calf of his leg . A dwarf attendant on the Czar turns round to stare in humorous fashion at the intruding William , whose homely manner , in the quiet English dress , becomes exaggerated by the contrast with the Russians at their scarcely-suspended arsenal toils . Now , we are quite certain that when William went to 6 ee Peter the Great , the Russian Prince left off work , stood on both feet , and conversed with the English King in a very sensible and unpretending manner . He did not stand as if he formed part of a tableau vivant at the Adelphi , enjoying the applause of an undiscriminating audience . Mr . criticism it to the

      Macxise ' s colour is beyond ; belongs style of colouring adapted to paper for hanging rooms—au opaque chalky mixture , laid on with a certain sweep of outline , convenient for the material , but not well suited to the expression of organic form . With a caprice that cannot be reduced to reason the muscles of Mr . Maclisp ' s men start out into prominent exertion , where ' there is no necessity , as in the case of Peter ' s half quiescent posture , or they sink into smooth generalization . They are in the convulsive state of a wrestler overcoming a foe , or in the dormant state of a mere muscular diagram . There is a vein run down the forearm and across that appears to be common in Mr . Macxise ' s mankind ; though where one vein is prominent in God's human nature , it usually has companions that bring out a venous network . The subject of this picture is a simple matter of fact , involving no feeling whatever . It could illustrate nothing but the character of the persons—William ' s character Peter ' s character , or the contrast between the Russians and the English- ' but where is the authenticity of the phases we have here ? where the verisimilitude ? Nowhere . The simple mutter of fact which the picture was to illustrate is not illustrated ; the whole spread of canvas tells nothing ; it attempts to tell a mechanical falsehood , and fails .

      The Operas. Maih.I.E. Piccoi-Omini Essay...

      THE OPERAS . Maih . i . e . Piccoi-omini essayed on Thursday , for the first time in England , tho great part of Jaiciu di Lammarmooi—an opera we can never separate from tho memory of Pisksiani , whoso wonderfully brilliant and passionate impersonation of the heroine must be a memorable tradition to a London audience Vocally and dramatically the part is a most arduous one , demanding the highest powers in the singer and the actress . Wo cannot honestly profess a belief that Madlle . Piccoiomini , with all the charm and fascination of her youth , and genius , has been able to efface tho recollection of L ' eusiani . Sho cairanot , in truth , sing the music as it is written , nor even as she desires to sing it . It is beyond tho natural powers of her voice , and equally beyond her acquired skill in its management . Wo hoard it observed moro than once that the musi too much for herand that h

      during tho evening , c was , so was overweighted ; and thia is , wo fear , the simple truth . To- every artist there is a certain range of faculty , and however reluctantly we may confess it , Madlle . Piccojlodiini appears to us to have passed out of tho domain of her delightful supremacy in attempting Lucia . And yet while wo write regretfully t'heeo words , wo are half inclined to draw tho pen through them , and to toll only halt' the truth ; for would not the spoiled darling of tho public porsuado Justice iteolf to break its pen ? That she lookrf enchantingly , that her acting ia instinct with true feeling and genius , who doubts f Whatever may bo wanting in . perfection , or . it fcally regarded , is almost effaced by tho victorious charm that carries till before it . Giugjuni ' s voice was under a cloud on Thursday evening , but he fully sustained his reputation in Edgardo . Uki-xkxti , n ho docs not give to Enrico tho dramatic importance , and intensity whlcu

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 9, 1857, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09051857/page/19/