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Leader (1850-1860), 14th November 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 21

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      * I 3kib3b Wl^J&Ffispaaaftw ^&!Ffi L S8i...

      thing rather . thing you . a tradesman , and till his conversation is about other things—' theworld , politics , sporting , his country estates , the Opera . He is a man of Walter Scott ' s favourite stature—rather below than above the middle height , with a figure square , but exceedingly neat , a young face , not unlike Byron ' s cut , _ only harder and smoother . He looks ' the perfect gentleman' in figure , carriage , and dress ; for he is dressed as carefully and quietly as the First Violin at the Opera ; he leans b ; ick in his chair with an inimitable ease . The thing least Tike gentlemanly repose about him is the excessive rapidity of his utterance . It is like a smart boy . All comes out of a quiet still figure like a fountain of gossip , statesmanship , anecdote , from a quiet sculptured face . He

      is master of many things , thinks himself master of everything , and imagines he does not let you perceive his wish that you should know it . With the good faith of a perfect gentleman , he looks upon the politics of the City as beneath him , and only condescends to their level when much solicited on grand occasions ; and , between you and me , his small success is both result and cause of his ' distinguished' style of behaviour . He professes to be independent of all parties , wedded to none , like a coquette , from a doubt whether he is so much appreciated as flirtation feigns him to be . This is one of the men to whom ' the country' has turned for redemption amidst the break-down of great parties ; and , really , he performs the part of a man-o £ rank statesman as cleverly as if he were Alfred Wigan .

      However , I ought not to complain , for he was very kind to me , especially about Aunt Eugenia ' s affairs . He affects to regard his property as close to ours ; for what is twenty miles to a man who half lives in the saddle ? He has arranged for aunt to put her money in the London and Empire Bank , which is doing immense business . He did not seem to think of using the money himself , but gave me three half hours in the week , all devoted to chat , and to the thought how he could oblige you , dear aunt ; so you will get the papers from Mr . Monson at the same time with this . Sign and send back . I must post , so good-by , all . As to health , I am splendid . I only wisli l ' olwhele had a tenth of mine . Your ever affectionate , ; ¦ ¦ " ¦ ¦ ¦ .: ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦• ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ , ¦ . ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ . .:. /¦ ¦ ¦¦¦ . ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ " , ¦ ; :: , . j . w . -

      Higher Praise Gi Himwhen Than Businessth...

      higher praise gi himwhen than businessThe last that would think him is ISTo . 399 , November 14 , 1857 . ] T HE LEADER , _ 1101

      ¦¦'" ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ '¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦^"'Li ' Iv : ' ^I Rfl T 'Vl4jtauliki * ¦ ¦¦ ' :' • '-¦' .. ¦ ¦ : ' : ¦ ' • ¦ '¦ - • ;

      ' ¦ y ^ j [ - ^

      . ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦- ... ¦ • • ¦ •¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ 1 ...

      . ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - ... ¦ • ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ 1 4 " ¦ ' ¦ ¦ . ¦ ' ... . . : '• ¦ . ¦ ¦•¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦¦ .. •¦ . THE HAYMAlUvET THEATRE . — 'AN UNEQUAL MATCH . ' Without ascribing to 2 Str . Tom Taylor the highest rank in the art of dramatic invention and construction , to which , 'as one of the most popular and successful of original adapters , ' her would probably be the first to renounce a claim , we may very fai rly and warmly congratulate him on the -undoubted possession of the secret of mastering the sympathies of the public , and measuring the capabilities of tlie actors . It is just possible that a critic of forty-lurcher power might be able to put his finger oh the pages of some French novel or novels to which we owe the leading situations of An Unequal Match . We have no desire to try the scent ; we are perfectly satisfied with a good evening ' s amusement , and we return our thanks to the author and to the manager and his company

      with the best grace we can . Who does not know that the opposition of the hoaTt and the world , and the conventional falseness of good society , are not , strictly speaking , a discovery in dramatic literature or a novelty in stage life ? Teak ' Jacques might have suggested the earlier scenes of An Unequal Match , and our disinterested and ingenuous audiences , in this blessed year of grace 185 7 , applaud the moral which is so happily enforced by the heir to a baronetcy , and we know not how many thousands a year , ' keeping coinpany with ' the daughter of a blacksmith with the most honourable intentions , and what is ( better or ) worse , actually marrying her out of hand and not repenting of his bargain until Act the Second . AVere we morbidly hypercritical , we might pick out a situation or two in .-1 « Unequal Mutch not entirely consonant with our own limited experience ol' actual life . 15 ut a quoi bou ? Nothing can be more consistent with our experience of •'¦ stage life than a defiance of probability , and we are quite content to enjoy a . hearty laugh tempered every now and then by the suspicion of

      something better than a laugh rising in the throat and dimming the eyes . In short , An Unequal Mutch is a perfectly successful , because a thoroughly enjoyable play , written witli taste and feeling , and put together . with considerable dexterity and tact , and nbove all , with a singular adaptability to tho personnel of the theatre in which it is so admirably performed . Our daily contemporaries have recited the * plot , in all its length and breadth . We will only advise as many of our readers as may be willing in this dismal season to escape for an hour or two into a sunnier world , to go and see Buckstonk , a 9 , first , a ' general practitioner * in a country district , next a body-doctor to a lady of the ' misunderstood' order , and lastly , as the Court Physician to II . Lt . H . the Grand Duke of Seidlitz Stinkingen . Besides , there is one of the best bits of acting , wo have seen for many a month in Comi > ton ' s JBlenkinsop—in otlier words , a Jeames out of livery . Mr . Thackeray ' s ideal picture of the Belgmvian flunkey is here represented to the very life . Mr . William Fariien , as the young baronet , is agreeably easy , natural , and gentlemanlike , and we know not what

      we can ve , we consider what an apparition the stage-gentleman usually is . Every part , great and small , is carefully and intelligently acted , and contributes to a most satisfactory general effect- but we have reserved for the last mention the fascinating and accomplished voune lady who has lately been bringing all the world to the Haymaeket , and who by her original performance in the new play , has confirmed the good impression which her Pauline and Constance had made . Miss Amy Sedgwick is' positively a bonne fortune to the London stage , and a treasury in herself to the Ha-ymarket Theatre . She is gifted with many of those natural advantages which no amount of discipline or experience can replace , and to these advantages she appears to us ( we hope we are not deceived by our own simplicity and goodwill !) to add what no natural advantages can dispense with , careful conscientiousness zeal , and sympathy . In the first act of the new play , as tlie simple country girl , she showed a true instinct and a genuine feeling ; in the second , as the young wife caught and caged in high life , the alternations of behaviour and of

      expression were happily conceived and expressed ; and in the last act , as the quasi-convert to the conventional hardheartedness and hypocrisy of society ( sound and true below the surface as ever )—beating the woman of the world with her own weapons , and shaming her husband out of his own social selfishness—Miss Sedgwick played with a quiet certainty and variety of power , and with an elegance and ease of manner , which belong only to tlie highest rank in the art . Nevertheless , we are too warm admirers of this young lady ' s gifts and accomplishments not to warn her of certain superficial defects . She ha 9 not yet learned the art of concealing the art : she is frequently too emphatic and elocutionary in the delivery of simple phrases ; she is too consciotts . And the voice , the speaking voice , in which , perhaps , more than in any other gift of nature , resides the secret of that indefinable ' something than beauty dearer , ' we call charm ? We are almost afraid to touch on this point , lest the defect we are suspicious of among so many promising advantages should be not absolutely remediable . Is there a certain hardness , a wiriness in Hiss Asir Sedgwick ' s natural voice which no cultivation can remove ? Or is it but a

      trick of the stage tone , which a finer and more practised sense of modulation may correct ? We forbear to solve the doubt which we suggest ; we are persuaded , in any case , that Miss Amy Sedgwick will take good counsel , dictated by kindness , not unkindly .

      Births, Marriages, And Deaths. Births. G...

      BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS . births . GIJIS 10 . —At Eecleston-street , Chestor-squuvo , Frederick , widow ofCaptnin Henry John Guiso . lato Commandant or tho 13 th IrroRular Cavalry , H . E . I . C . S . ( who was killed on Iho 4 th of Juno , nt ] 3 eiinres ) ; nsoii . SAl / niARSHK . —At Snltmnrslu ! , Yorkshires , tho wife of l'hilipSaltmarslio / Esq . ; a son . MARRIAGES . BIQGS-WIL LIAMSON .-At Hastings , Major John Higg » , ? J " i > i n ^ l J \ i \ «> u of the lato General lliggs wnVi . . ?" " v Sar £ \ llrotfc ' * " «»> tor of tho lato J . 0 \\ illiniusflii . Esq ., Otlv Lancors . ] ''ITZaiJttALl ) -lJETTESWOftTII . -At St Geom >'< l & Si 01 }^/ 1 ' !^ ^ ' ^^ ' » of Lo ' Wilfiam h ^^^\^ lSS ^ t a ^ S ^ : UAUBhtor of llcwy DEATHS . CliARKK . —In l > ul » lii > , Sir Arthur Olarko , M . D ., Member of the ltoynl College of Surgcoim . London , and for mn . iy veai-H l > hy « elan to the Itaiik . of Ireland and to tho Metropolitan J » ohc <\ nt th « ndvnneod ago or 8 » . DAMPINR . —At QiKioiiVroiul , Bnyswntor , J . Digby C . S .

      Dampicr , Esq ., son of tho Into Rev . Jon Daiupior , of Colinsliays , Somersorshlre , in his -list yenr . GltKY . —At "NYhickhatn , Catherines , daughter of the lato Honry Grey , Esq ., of Uamborough Northumboand , aged St .

      Opera Buffa.—St. James's Theatre. On Tue...

      OPERA BUFFA . —ST . JAMES'S THEATRE . On Tuesday evening an . occupier of a stall at Sr- James ' s Theatre might fairly have supposed that , instead of the depth of November , as it most unmistakably was out of doors , it was the height of the Season , to judge by the appearance of the boxes . Only Mr . Mitchell could bring together so brilliant and distinguished ah audience at such a time of year . The occasion was the first night of the Opera Bufik , which had been announced some months since . There was an Opera Buffa many winters ago in London , and a very pleasant institution it is reported to have been in those days . It is true that of late years we have had adouble dose of Italian Operas through the summer , and that Italian Opera has gone the round of the provinces , and become familiar to the most benighted of country towns . On the other hand , the peculiarity of the Italian Opera in London , these latter years , has consisted in its being , for the most part , not Italian , but French or German Opera . At all events , K " oveml ) er is a dull month ,

      and if we cannot have the Opera Comique ( most delightful of exotics !) , by all means let us try an Opera Buffa . We are pretty sure that Mr . Mitchell did not play his trumps on Tuesday evening last , and we are not disposed to estimate the probable success of the experiment by the reception of Columetta . A more indulgent audience is not to be conceived . Probably very few only in that distinguished public were able to follow the . language of the piece at all ; fewer still the Neapolitan dialect , and in this twilight state of apprehension , intense and inexhaustible comicality in the principal performer is occasionally apt to produce a sort of savage and bewildered gloom rather than the desired hilarity in the audience . But we . are happy to say that Signor Carrione , the PuklneUu of the evening-, contorted himself like a strir . tr of maccaroni to some purpose on the opening night . The audience laughed with if not at himand

      , it is just to add that he sang the rapid buffo music very effectively . What shall we say of the rest of the singing ? Signor Colombo , the barytone , displayed a truly fine voice , and sang with strong feeling ; Signor Galli , as 11 Dottore , sang in tune ( a quality not to be despised ) , anil like a musician ; but the tenor—we fear that if he had a voice he would not know how to use it : the scconda donna sang ( nearly six feet ) high , and acted with self-possession , but Signora Fumagaxli - \ vas too frightened to pay proper respect to the remains of what we fear was never more than the ghost of a soprano . The orchestra was well kept in hand by Signor Alberto Randegger , and the chorus was highly respectable . But what music ! Ye gods ! what sterility—nay , what absolute poverty and exhaustion ! A whine and then a giggle , a . " \ g" \ e and then a whine . The rest is—fiddlesticks . We do not care " to be better

      acquainted with the operas of Maestrino Fiouavanti , and we trust Signor Uandeogur will be able to provide something more tolerable than ColumeUa from his portfolio . The National Anthem was sung at the conclusion of the opera , in the Neapolitan dialect , we believe . The truth is , our attention was absorbed by Sigaor Caruione's face , which we were curious to see out of Pulcinella's mask , and we can certify that , a very noble countenance it is , reminding us a little of Ronconi and of Pit ijdk rick . Lemaitue . We are glad to find Donizetti's // Canpanello announced for to-night . Is there not an opera buffa or two of Rossini's early youth worth bringing to light ?

      Fkom. The London Gazisttw. Tuesday* Nove...

      FKOM . THE LONDON GAZISTTW . Tuesday * November 10 . BANKRUPTS .-William Oharlks Haunks and William CoKDiNai . KY , Bow-common , mauufacturing oh « niists —Robjskt JtiiiLDiiKV , Trafalgar-road , Old Kent-road , nnd Cumborlaiid-pliuio , Southwnrk , manuracturor of paperhangings—James Roukkt 1 » agm , WcHington-ohainbovs , Gannon-Htrcet-wost and elsowhore , iron nmnnfneturor-Oiiakleb Wahwick , FrLdny-Mtreot , Cheapside , fancy Ul c ^ 5 s warehouseman—William Hknjamin PniLLirs , Birminghnm , bolt manufacturer—John Turton , Nottinglumi , lace nianufncturcr—IJknjamin Fletciiuix Buuton , Ncktingliani , timber merchant—OiiA . iu . iiB ynAY , Clioltcuhain . baktir —CjiAittKB Ej >\ vaui > Mehuv , Mristol , grocor—Joun Scott 1 'khkin , Uatlo . v , Yorkshire , builder—William BjvniiKii J ) UN 8 TON , Dorbyshiro , cattle denier—William Stbvmnhon , tsholllolU , cooper—Samotkl Uawkinb Natiku and John ilK > viTSON , Liverpool , ship cliaiidlors—Joseph Slatuk IT . ATTand Henry Sutcliff , Manclicstor , nianufuclurcrs —William Hahuison , ltoohdalo , draper . SCOTCH 8 EQUESTE / VTIONS . — V . Pabk , Qliwgow ,

      warehouseman—J . Faulkner , Glasgow , wpliolstorer — J . Lavteie , Kelso , bookseller . Friday . November 13 . BANKRUPTCY ANNULLED . —J . Tito ^ ias Rundle and BrcTON Hull IUjndlk , riymoittli . BANKRUPTS . —J . Musro mid Co ., Milo-end , engineers - llm petition for winding-up tho National Deodorizing awd Manuhk Company ( limited ) , will bo heard in the Court of Bankruptcy , on Wednesday , Novombor 25 . — Thomas Richardson Hyuk , Chostor , clothier—James lii . ACKETT , Leeds , grocer—Uenjamin IJarton , AVbrtlej ' , grocer—William Okistall , Rotheritho , timber merchant —JjAZAiujs Sampson , llouudsditcli , nieiclidiit—Alfked Suuckfohtii Trancis nnd Gkorok Austin , Chonpsido , warchousomcii—James Wili . iams , Beer-lnno , Oity , agent — Thomas Browne 1 Lannakoki > , llatcliffo-cross , Middlesex , slate luercbant—Hunry Nkwoass , Nowgate-streot , City , importer of foreign goods-TiiOMAS Mauples , Litchurch , Derbvshiro , inillstoue manufacturer , — William Aulton nnd John Samiucjison Hutlkk , NotUiiKbam , laco manufacturer— . loiiN Mason , WcHtHunstcr — BunuowKS Willcocks Artiivr Slkiou , Strand . uowsvcMulor-OiaVKR TMouoan Lilly nnd Ulissaiikxii Hlkanou M'Dowall , Uristol . timbor merclianls—John I > oni > , Llanolly , Brecon , lia-v-dwiler—William Gkeicn , Uuiversity . stroot , Tottonliam-court-road , builil < » r - William Gkangeu , Wolvor-Immpton , licensed victualler — TiiOMAa Sivtixn Dbkkbk ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 14, 1857, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14111857/page/21/