Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 21st February 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 20, -« /fjT U-A WVTtf yd/ I) *, JZvkYA 4 ,

Page 20
Page 20
20 of 24

On this page

  • Departments (1)
    • -« /fjT U-A WVTtf yd/ I) *, JZvkYA 4 ,
  • Text (6)
  • 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.

      188 The Leader. [No, 361, Saturday ,

      188 THE LEADER . [ No , 361 , Saturday ,

      Two Lady Tourists. Going Abroad ; Or, Gl...

      TWO LADY TOURISTS . Going Abroad ; or , Glimpses of Art and Character ^ in France and Italy . By Nona Bellairs . ( Skeet . )—Miss Bellairs writes with a free and graceful , pen , and casts upon a well-worn subject the reflexion of a vivacious mind and an elegant fancy . She begins her observations in Paris , journeys thence to Avignon , to Marseilles , to Cannes , Nice , and Savona . Her picture 01 Florence Is artistically coloured , and warm with the light of Italy . She has much to say of the galleries and churches , of landscapes , religious groups , and pagan sculpture . Of course , we expect little novelty in a description of the City of Flowers , for who * has not seen it—counted the tints of the Duomo marbles , admired the "joys for ever" in . the Fitti palaces carried his optic glass to Fiesole , wondered at the fantastic manners of the denimonde ? Miss Bellairs , however , has an original sketch of a lady artist : —

      It was on the 19 th of February ( I should not like to forget the day ) that I went to the studio of Mile , de Feauveau , nearly opposite to that of Mr . Power . I passed through rooms full of artistic models , to be presented to—a lady artist ! I saw a tall film figure , dressed in a velveteen role , with a jacket of the same material , with a leather belt round her waist—her hair cut like that of a boy , very short in front , and a little longer at the side , her very handsome noble features set off by a little leather cap . This dress was adopted , in accordance with a vow , when Mile , de Fea uveau left her own land to follow the fortunes of the unfortunate . Miss Bellairs reached Milan a few hours after the execution of a priest for a frightful crime . The city seemed desolate . The lower windows of the bouses were barricaded : — It was said that every exertion had been made to save his life on tie plea of the great scandal it would bring upon the church . The answer given was , " That the sin disgraced the church , and not its punishment—that one of the Apostles was Judas , " and so the priest was executed . .

      Summer Experiences of Rome , Perugia , and Siena , tn 1854 . By Mrs . J . E . "Westropp . ( Skeffington . )—A volume of sketches , on paper and stone , written and scratched . The illustrations , in general , represent the ancient and modern edifices in Rome , Perugia , and Siena , the descriptive passages for the most part refer to religious ceremonies , and . to Italian collections of art . Mrs . Westropp has a pleasing manner , and writes intelligently on the ordinary topics of travel . A summer in Rome , however , is somewhat of a novelty ; the English seldom remain in the capital during that season . Siena , and Perugia too , as she remarks , are almost always done' in a hurry . The authoress will be very glad if her account should induce any one , in search of a summer residence in Italy , to turn their attention to these two cities , which combine beauty of scenery , treasures of art and painting 1 , with a cool temperature and economy .

      We may characterize Mrs . Westropp ' s volume as a careful and interesting account of the three cities in which she made her residence , with minute details of manners , pleasantly illustrated by anecdotes , and by sketchy reminiscences . Pleasing , indeed , is the word which best describes the book .

      . .- A Jongleur Romance. Freida The Jong...

      . .- A JONGLEUR ROMANCE . Freida the Jongleur . By Barbara Hemphill . 3 vols . Chapman and Hall . This is a story of the thirteenth century , of Saxon dancers , of Templar Knights , of kings and chieftains . Its movement is slow , and its plot irregular ; but there is an absence of commonplace in Miss Hemphill ' s manner which marks her new novel with considerable superiority . The substance is intensely romance , much mystery being interwovenwith much passion , and the personages on the stage being attired in deeply-dyed and richly-adorned coBtumes . In . fact , every successive scene is a pageant or a tableau , often not a little effectiveMiss Henvnhill is careful not to offend against historical £ k UlU J . O taiUUl llUb V \ J UttGHAJ

      . JLM / U *» ** l / W 4 t > GUWVIY ^ i * JL . TJLA )> J . AQllt |^ - . ** , " U / JLIIOU JLtlO 1 / UllU CVL truth , and has evidently applied herself with assiduous zeal to study the manners and events of the period . It was an excellent idea to embroider a story of thirteenth-century politics and chivalry with wild and graceful illustrations from the chronicles of the Jongleur race , the Egyptians of the North , the fierce , claste , faithful sisters of the Zingara nation . Miss Hemphill , though she manages her narrative with imperfect art , succeeds in interesting the reader , and in producing a vivid , reflexion of manners as they existed in the days ofPhilippe-le-Bel , Guy D'Auvergne , and the formidable Valois . ¦ - .

      -« /Fjt U-A Wvttf Yd/ I) *, Jzvkya 4 ,

      Cije Mff 4

      Re-Appearance—For A Short Time Only—Of T...

      RE-APPEARANCE—FOR A SHORT TIME ONLY—OF TABLE TURNING , RAPPING , & c . The vitality exhibited by imposture is remarkable in an age boasting its great enlightenment . Who would believe that after the rapping formerly given to turning tables by this journal , after the coup de grace administered by ProfesBor FxnADAY , a table should yet be found with face enough to dance before an English assembly ? Such , however , is really the case ; and at the theatre of the Marylebone liiTEttAnY and SciENffiFic Institijxion , where of late Mr . Thackeray winged his intellectual arrows at the " four Gkorgks , " and Miss Uivrw gave Shakspearean Readings , the public have been entertained with a mountebank exhibition as revolting to common sense as it was disgusting in its

      The programme of this entertainment informed us that Mr Randolph , " the American Urator , would appear on Saturdays , February 14 th nud 21 st , and that , by unanimous request of tho audience" ( the audience yet to be assembled , we presume ) , the subject of the first evening would bo Phenomenal Spiritualism , ? Ll W i s m ^ mcdium s <* i'i tho kindest manner volunteered their services and a Table-moving , tipping , and rapping afoncr would be held . " A « J £ ? ° l " 1110 ^ jnformcd us ( in the shape of sundry extracts from unknown tern "I ? i ! l * at Mr ' Rando ^» *™» a « Concrete Man ; " that ho was tho wSkll h . ™ ni \? « tory «• soared so infinitely high into tho sublime , that it a ^™^ T COnC 0 ptlOn ai"l im » g i ™ tion ; » that " no less a mind than that of SSnt ^' , " ° ? - could d 0 J ^ ico to such awfully fi ublimo ettorts ; that his Bpeechea were of tho » fiery-harp order ;•• while one trumpeter ,

      carried beyond discretion by his zeal , bestows the somewliat questionable """" pliment that on one occasion he ( the trumpeter ) " actually felt concern ^ ? " the physical and intellectual safety of the speaker , for both systems seem ^ - j to burst" with the « titanic efforts of the fiery-harp orator , ' * d read y But , however effective Mr . Randolph may be with an American audio such sound and fury declamation falls flatly on English ears . The " fierv h orator" has a good , sonorous voice , and speaks glibly enough ; and we hav P doubt , that as a methodist parson , he would soon attain a Spurgeon snH- ° t fame ; but when Mr . Randolph lectures us on the nature of the Deitv al declares in impious bombast that turning tables are the links between Man a the Omnipotent , we can only regret that such an easy flow of speech oim « i ^

      directed by a mmd so distorted- After he had spoken in this strain for ahn ? an hour last Saturday evening-, the " experiments" with a table comment This "table was of peculiar construction , and it did not belong to the Mar 1 bone Institution—an admission made by Mr . Randolph in answer to inquiry from a gentleman on the platform . The peculiarity comisted chiJ | in there being a flap , ( apparently heavy ) on . one side of the table onl / the lower part of which flap was cut in a sort of half-moon form , the two hor or ends nearly touching the ground . Seven people sat down at three sides nf this piece of furniture and placed their hands on it in the most approved fashion and an about ten minutes it began to move , as well as to raise the tvro W « facing the spectators and opposite to the side on which the flap rested Th « performance being more suspicious than entertaining , a gentleman in tlie room suggested thai it would be as well to turn the table round and have the flap fastened

      up ; which being done , the table took umbrage and refused to dance any more It ran about the platform , as any other table might do with the assistance of seven people ; but no coaxing ( and Mr . Randolph spoke very kindly to it } would induce it to jump . Meanwhile the lecturer , showing signs of uneasiness at the tittering of the audience , tried to amuse them by some sneering remarks on unbelievers in Spiritualism ; but , in an attempt to saddle on Professor Faraday that whach he never said , and which , in point of fact , was in direct contradiction to all he . urged , the "fiery-harp orator" received from a gentleman in the room the first of a series of defeats which left him thoroughly crestfallen It is from Mr . Randolph that we first learn that Earaday accounts for tableturning by attributing the " phenomenon" to " ¦ involuntary electricity . "

      At a later period of the evening when the audience , thoroughly disgus ted were about to leave , the table recommenced its saltatory performances , and informed us by sundry taps with , its legs on the ground that it was animated by the spirit of John Youn g , brother to Thomas , and that the said spirit was v ery happy—far more so indeed than when , in the body , it inhabited this wicked world . As this interesting communication ( it was very kind of Joun Yousc , brother to Thomas , to come all the way from his present abode merely to inform some people assembled in Edwards-street , Portman-square of these facts ) —as this , we say , may appear something like a rapping success on the part of the table , we must inform the reader that , in accordance with the wish of a Spiritualist an the room , the flap had again been , put dovcm , and turned from the spectators .

      It would hardly have been worth the loss of an inch , of space to describe this wretched jugglery , "but that some old ladies of either sex still allow themselves to be duped by an imposture as transparent to common sense and investigation , as it is mischievous in its effects on minds weakened by ill-health or suffering .

      Mr. Westland Marstofs New Play. The Play...

      MR . WESTLAND MARSTOFS NEW PLAY . The play-goer always sees with gratification , the announcement of a new play by Mr . Westland Marston ; for , though possessing several literary faults , the author is one of the few writers for the stage of the present day who originate their own plots and characters , and think that England should do something more than simply adopt the last Paris fashion . He is also a true poet and an artist , and his sympathies are with whatever is really generous and noble . It was therefore with pleasant recollections of former productions of his that we witnessed on Monday evening the first performance of his new play , A t ifis Ransom , which Mr . Dillon lias produced at the Lyceum , and which throws us back to the picturesque times of James the Second , just as the reign ofthat bigot was on the eve of its termination . The hero of the drama is a certain Devonshire nobleman , Lord Revesdale ( Mr . 13 illon ) , -who is poor , though of a haughty soul , and who will be obliged to parti with his hereditary estates if his sister , Felicia ( Mrs . Dillon ) , does not consent to marry a lord high in favour at the Court . But she has already plighted herself to Arthur Ringxoood , the son of a rich country gentleman of humble origin , and slie will not break her word .

      Lord Revesdale casts her off in a frenzy of passion , and quits the place . Subsequently , in the midst of his ravings against the plebeian lover , he accidentally lets out , in the presence of a ferocious country magistrate , one Bancroft ( Mr . Stuart ) , a kind of petty Judge Jeffreys , that the said lover was compromised in the Duke of Monmoutji ' s rebellion . Bancroft , who has some grudge against young Ringwood , thereupon arrests him and his wife on the night of their wedding . Lord Revesdale , now overcome with remorse and shame , offers to put into Bancroft ' s power a man compromised in the movement in favour of the Prince of Qjkance , on condition of his releasing the bridal ^ couple . Bancroft consents ; the young husband and wife put to sea for Holland ; and Revtsiuk avows himself as an Orangeite , as in fact he is . But the catastrophe is fast approaching ; . The fugitives are suddenly seen returning ; the people on tlie strand are clamorous with some new joy ; a fleet appears close in Bhore ; and . Ringwood and Felicia rush forward , and announce tlie arrival of Wilmasi of Orangk . Bancroft is thus defeated ; the brother and sister are reconciled ; and all terminates with that felicity which an audience , whether wisely or not , appea rs to expect in a play . to

      The first three acts—at least , until the termination of the third—seem us rather to prepare the spectator to be interested than to excite his sympathies at once . There is too much obvious arrangement of the figures into the rigj » positions for the proper amount of antagonism ; and consequently , though tlitf writing always commands respect , and at times admiration , wo could not avow feeling a want of interest . The relative bearings of the characters , moreover , are not very clear for some time , and the villain Bancroft moves about as in ft m lSti This eflect was increased on the first night by a general indistinctness of utterance on the part of all the performers . But the fourth and fifth acts are » u » . movement and dramatic power . By that time we see the whole scope and nni of the story , and are ut once warmed into sympathy with the characters . * events succeed each other with a rapidity vInch leaves no room for dulnesv' "" yet gives opportunity for the utterance of some impressive and l ) ll 3 sl ( ' j poetry ; notably , the appeal of Felicia to the portraits of her brother ' s ana Jit own ancestors in tho old hall , to disown their descendant for his treiiclR'OBut the conclusion of the play is rather abrupt ; and how are we to necounK other than stage principles ) for that sudden and pantomimic change ot see )

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 21, 1857, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21021857/page/20/