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    1218 THE LEADER. £SATtmi>AY,

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    WINTER EXHIBITION OF SKETCHES. Art begin...

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    The Miseries Of A Dramatic Critic. Tirmi...

    They Dance again : Bassa : n ~ e 3 enters . Bass . O Madam , Penthea , poor Penthea ' s starv'd . Cal . Beshrew thee . ' Lead to the next . Bass . Amazement dulls my senses . They Dance again : ORGil / crg . enters . •• Org . Brave Ithocles is murder'd , murder'd cruelly . Cal . How dull this music sounds ! Strike up more sprightly : Our footings are not active like our heart , Which treads the nimbler measure .

    Sadness obtruding its pale face amidst the moving crowds of Mirths Death present amidst revelry ;—music , and lights , and laughter , and glittering dresses , and side by side of them , Pain , Ruin , silent , helpless Despair , or quiet Sorrow , seeking forgetfulness—is it not always so , if we could but read what is behind the Mask ? Happily we cannot ; there is a serene unconsciousness of all that is unexpressed which makes life endurable and endured . On Tuesday I was to be alone . But I'homme propose , les amis disposent ; and my illustrious Turkish friend , Sherbert EfFendi , dragged me to the

    ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY , to hear papers read by Owen and Huxley . You must know that Sherbert Effendi is a profound zoologist ( when I tell you that to him the discovery is due which settled the place of sharks among 3 t the Marsupialia , you will appreciate his merit !) ; and I could not resist his request . Good actions always meet their reward . I was rewarded . A paper , on the Anatomy of the Kangarou , by Professor Owen , was read ; then one by Mr . Huxley , from whom science has so much to hope , on the Entozoa of the Zebra's liver ; and one by Mr . Wallace , on the Monkey Tribes of the Amazon . You will not expect , from a man of my known frivolity , a circumstantial report of the echinococcus about which Mr . Huxley told us so many interesting facts . But I will express the result in a few wordsHe showed , in a manner irresistibly conclusive , that this

    ento-, zoon which inhabits the liver is precisely the same animal as that which , when in the intestines , assumes the well-known form of the tcenia ; and the result of his observations is to abolish four supposed genera ! Sherbert Effendi , who believes in the Development hypothesis , nudged me wickedly as Mr . Huxley made this remark , and whispered , "If different conditions can so modify the egg of the tcenia that it becomes in the one case an acepalocyst , in another a cysticercus , in a third an echinococcus , what becomes of all the talk about fixity of species ? " Whereupon I looked profound , and replied , "Ah !"—which could not compromise me . Certainly , when Mr . Huxley told us how Siebold gave puppies some of these echinocoeci in milk , and on opening the puppies a short time afterwards , found these entozoa had become tcenia , 1 did glance towards the Turkish philosopher with a " what-will-they-say-to-that" air .

    After the papers were read , Mr . Mitchell , the admirable secretary to the Zoological Society , showed us his portfolio , and told us many amusing facts about our friends the Chimpanzees—one I will repeat . Many , if not most persons , feel uncomfortable at looking on those orangs and chims ; it is thought that the resemblance of the chim is " too close to be pleasant : " that feeling the chimpanzee seems to have for the monkeyshe will not look upon them , but turns away in disgust ! Having smoked a philosop hic cigar with the Effendi , I came home , congratulating myself upon Wednesday , at any rate , being free for quiet study . What would M . Azais say on hearing that Wednesday had been chosen by the restless Charles Malhews for the production of a piccu of his own , called

    LITTLE TODDLEKINS ! That man in incorrigible ! 1 ' utlam bound to add ihtxt Little ToddlcTcins was so prodigiously amusing that " I would not have lost it for a wilderness of folios . " imagine Charles Mathews as a gay young widower of thirty , anxious to enter upon the stale ; of matrimony ( what is it that rnsikes sano men anxious on that score P ) , but foiled in all his efforts by the disinclination felt on the part of romantic eighteen to become the mother of a " little toddlokins" of eight-aud-fbrty , and Charles Matliews is tho

    papa of such a " little loddlekins "—a souvenir of his departed angel ! It is imponsiblo for me to convoy any notion of the broad , wide-shaking extravagance , running over with fun , of this farce , which achieved tho greatest Huooess of any farce that baa boon produced for a . very long while , and deserved its success by tho bold extravagance of tho situations , tlio incessant volleys of jokes , and tho gaiety of tho acting . I screamed at it , and ho did all around mo . There was a hitch now and then , owing to imperfect rehearsals or nervousness ; but when a few nights have given it the necessary glibness , it will bo a ibrtuno to the t heatre .

    Tho original of thin // if // a 'Ihddlekins in Lev Suites d ' an premier lit , ¦ which Charles MalhowH ban adapted with a freedom and wit that makes another pieeo of it . A word of praino should be slipped in for Mrs . Frank Matthews , who played what is called an " ungrateful part" with heartiness , and for Baker , who was excellent in tho old twaddling Ikbiconibe . Thus wan Wednesday given up to Duty . When Fiohte was eloquent on tho " great Idcaof Duty—die ( jrossc . JdcedcrL ' Jiicht !" ho had never boon 21 , dramatic Critic . I begin wry much lo mmped that Duty is Well , never mind , I have got , Thursday for quiet philosophic repose . That in Homelhing . Thunjdiiy comes , and lo ! I leap from my chair as I read that " thin evening" is tho evening of

    KDITI 1 HUllAmVK DKIHJT , in tho character of Julia , in the Hunchback , at the Olympic , lean ') , resist that appeal . Tho daughter of a confrere—lnotaphyHieian , poet ; , and dramatic , critic--has more than the already powerful claims on me ' tho cbiiniH , 1 mean , of her sex , and her potation : ami woman , the intcroHt of Vivian in inevitably secured ; as a deinituntc , tho peculiar interest attending all decisive opcodes in tho career of a human Doing outweighs , in . my

    mind , a whole shelf of Christian Fathers . Who , for instance , can think of such a Letter as that awaiting me , by the majestic Basil , addressed to ingenuous youth , upon the way in which the Greek writers should be studied with profit—Upos rovs veovs ontos dv eg ' EW ^ i'mcow ox ^ eXqf vto \ oycov ( there's a captivating title for you ! what a " poster " it would make !) who , I say , could think of this when a young woman was about to confront the terrible ordeal of a London public , to ask of us all , playgoers and critics— "Am I sufficiently advanced in my art to be worthy to practise it for your delight P I have studied , I have striven , I aim at the highest honours—tell me , have I won P" Terrible question ! And Edith Heraud , in the happy confidence of youthful ambition , braves the answer . Let me then , in all kindness , and that impartiality which is the best of kindnessj if people would but acknowledge it , ( they wont !) try to answer that question as far as my verdict goes .

    To say , then , in a few brief sentences what I think of her—she is still very young , and has directed her principal study to the mastery of one portion of her art—viz ., that of recitation .. ^ Her voice is musical , although its range seems limited : within the limits she plays upon it as upon an instrument , with a certain skill , but also with a certain monotony ; hence the general effect of her recitation * is too much that of a song ; it lacks the variety and the intervals of speech . But even suppose the whole varied resources of declamation at her command , there would remain the still more important elements of representation , i . e ., the expression of individual character and emotion—and these she has yet to learn before her high ambition can be crowned . The history of an individual artist is always more or less the same as that of the Art itself ; and Art begins with what is general , passing by regular gradations to what is individual .

    Thus , the Drama has set aside the Cothurnus , and the lofty declamation which suited it , to become more and more familiar , individual , abounding in detail ; so also has the Art of acting itself outgrown the sing-song monotony and conventional gesticulation of early tragedians , to manifest itself in the more accurate conception and representation , of individual character . It has stepped from the stilts upon the carpet . It has lost something of its ideality to approach closer to reality . It is easy to apply these general principles to the young artist upon whom I am sitting in judgment , and to say that she is beginning her career very wisely , by trying to master that which is most general . She reads intelligently , carefully , often musipally ; she is so young , so courageous , so painstaking , that I have only to advise her to continue steadily practising her art , and she will reap the reward . Vitian .

    1218 The Leader. £Sattmi>Ay,

    1218 THE LEADER . £ SATtmi > AY ,

    Winter Exhibition Of Sketches. Art Begin...

    WINTER EXHIBITION OF SKETCHES . Art begins to bloom in London perennially , instead of coming in and going out again with the strawberries . Already , the Exhibition of Sketches has seen its third winter , and , as a sign of vigorous young life in this hardy annual , an offshoot appeared last year , at tho gallery of Mr . Grundy , in Kegent-street . The only fault we find with the present collection is , that so many of the " sketches" are in no sense sketches at all . When the plan of this exhibition was first laid down , it seemed a good thing that all who cared might study the artist ' s process from the beginning . Even those persons whose contemplation of perfect works is -undisturbed by any care about the means or method taken to produce them , will , out of that very love and faith , observe with interest the working of artistic power at all stages of its action . It is a pity , therefore , that a collection of original studies for pictures should include so many examples that look more like engravers' copies from pictures ot

    —and pictures , too , which everybody has seen . ltossetti is one the fow contributors who havo adhered to the very letter of tho call for portfolio studies . His two principal sketches foretell pictures of extraordinary ambition . In one , Giotto is shown painting Dante ; and the other is thus named : " Beatrice , meeting Danto at a Marriage Feast , denies him her salutation . " * Dante leans against the painted wall , and tho ladies , among whom in Beatrice , seem to mock his confusion . Mr . W . Holman Hunt gives the original sketch for his " Valentine and Proteus , " exhibited at the lloyal Academy last year . It is in watercolours , if we remember rightly , in much smaller than the original picture , and is almost as daintily finished . Taking , into account two facts , tho labour which painters of Mr . Hunt ' s school usually bestow on their experimental designs , and the distinct specification in tho catalogue , avo refrain from expressing a doubt of this . sketch ' h authenticity ; but it is more-difficult to treat Mr . Elmoro ' n " Hotspur and the Fop" with tho same- consideration . Then ; is one more Hiibjoel-nlvelch , as we suppose it

    must be called , by Mr . Maddox Brown , who seems to have given up being Perugino . Tho picture was hung in the Octagon room this year , and was feebly named " Pretty baa-lambs . " Ah in the preceding instances , the sketch is a miniature version of the picture , equally finished . It is a pretty meadow seene , tho grass being , in colour and consistency , like boiled spinach , well beaten , and smoothly spread . The human figures and the lambs are like ohildren ' H toys , modelled with unusual accuracy . Edward Armitage has a beautiful sketch of a little girl ' s head in profile , and a . landscape study of ( . wilighl , effect , with nhadow'H in tho water , very hastily touched . "( I . A . Willianis ' s " Old Moat , " hardly more finished , in a bit of nature reclaiming the work of human hands . There i . s a fair number of landscape studies by tho Maine Williams , and ton

    others of bin prolific family , an well as by Lee , Stanfiold , Bodding , Mulme , liidmrd . soii , and Paul Naftol , whowo Guernsey sketch , with tho HtonebreakerH sheds , i . s true in every part . So may be justly naid ot Duncan ' s views on tho TliamcH and Lea , and of bis sketch at Yarmouth . Tho CallowH , whether at , Hoa or ashore , cannot got on without ruHt and dry-rot , but it is wonderful to hcc what they will do under the influence of these stimulants . They both make a « good a figuro hero an at the Old Water Colour Gallery . Branwhite is rapidly thawing , and bin wintry HceneH are not , his best this lime . Next , to one of them , Bennett , the JSeW Society man , ahineH out through the airy sriiiecH of bin charming " . Koroafc Scene . " But Davidwon ' H corn-Molds are flu ; brighteHt piooen of naturo here , all tho purple and gold in Vaoher ' n Italian bay neonory notwith-Btaliding . There aro tho names , also , of LiuneU and John Martin , but

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 18, 1852, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18121852/page/20/