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    No. 426, MAY 22, 185S.j T J± Jjj Xi Jti ...

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    THE NEWROYAL ITALIAN OPERA HOUSE. OPENIN...

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    Continental Notes. That Narrow And Unchr...

    M . de Pene , and he protested against the second duel * but to no purpose . The officer who gave what it is feared will prove the fatal wounds is said to be a relative of Generaf Espinasse . The chief editor of Figaro has demanded an interview with the Emperor , but has been refused . M . Proudhon has sent a petition to the Senate , praying for the suppression of the Roman . Catholic Church , on the grounds put forth in his late -work . Some points in the French law of marriage were brought forward in a case recently submitted , to the Civil Tribunal . A dissipated young French man , named Ruttinger , had married a lady in Peru , where he was at

    that time living in a commercial . capacity . In two months he abandoned her , though she was then pregnant by him ; and shortly afterwards he returned -to Paris . She followed him there , and for a week he again lived with her , but then once more left . He sold oiF all his furniture , and told the concierge of the house 3101 to let her have anything , but to inform her that she had better take a lover if she could find one . She fell into the utmost distress , and some charitable Peruvians gave her money to return to her own country . Ruttinger ' s father

    and mother now applied to the Civil Tribunal to declare the marriage null and void , on the ground that they had not given their consent , -which -was necessary , as the young man -was only three-and-twenty , and therefore a minor as regards marriage : they also urged that the marriage had not been duly published and reg-istered in France . The tribunal decided that the want of the parents' consent made the marriage void ; but , considering that , in contracting it , the young lady was ignorant of the French law , it ruled that she should enjoy the civil advantages to which it entitled her .

    " A series of manoeuvres , " says tlie Times P-aris correspondent , " are to be practised l > y the troops to be assembled at the camp of Chalons , with the object of testing the advantage of forming an army on . two lines . The words of command adapted to these new manoeuvres have been prepared by the Emperor himself . " The Emperor reviewed , on Monday , in the Bois de Boulogne , in honour of the Prince Royal of Wurtemberg , the six regiments of heavy cavalry which form part of the garrison of Paris . The director of the joint-stock company called the Societe des Marbrieres da Maine lias been sentenced by the Court of Correctional Police to pay a fine for having declared and paid a fictitious dividend .

    It is said that the Trench naval squadron in the Pacific is about to be reinforced . The command of the squadron lias just been given to Commander Saisset . The position of Suez is now considered of so much importance by the French Government , that the Consulate there is to be raised to a Consulate-General . - It is rumoured in Paris that the Dutch Government has been chosen by the Kings of Naples and Piedmont as mediator in the affair of the Cagliari .

    BELGIUM . Some apprehension of a Frencli invasion is being felt in Belgium . Defensive preparations are snid to be actively going on , and the necessity of adding to the defensive strength of Antwerp has been muclt talked of . The alarm , however , does not appear to have any good foundation . About 20 , 000 St . Helena medals have been distributed ( o those Belgians who served in the armies of the first Napoleon ; and it is affirmed that , through them , a certain propagandism has been going on .

    An English half-pay officer living- at Brussels has been denounced to the police by a discharged maid servant as a man constantly employed in writing sedition against the Emperor Napoleon . His dwelling was searched , but nothing was found more alarming than a work about Napoleon I . and th « year 1815 . No reference to the present Emperor could be disco-vored . Nevertheless , all his manuscripts were put in a bag , n » d carried of by the police . The officer complained to' ( he English Ambassador at Brussels , who is said to have made a representation to the Minister foa' Foreign Affairs .

    ITALY . " The excavations in the Via Latino , ' says a letter from Rome of the 8 th inst ., " liave led to the discovery of two other sepulchral chambers ; the second , in particular , ia in a wonderful atato of preservation . The marble tombs are covered with sculptures of great beauty ; but what ia of still more decided interest arotlie paintings with which the roof and sides me ornamented , find which arc as fresh and hright as if only executed yesterday . Somo of the compartments contain animnl ana human heads of a perfection nearly equal to that of the best cameos . The whole WOul , l be j ,, at m they were tho firs day , had not some Visigoth ae ^ retly detached one of tl , « Leads . It » thought that the Roman Govern , ment will purchnae thoao monuments ana the surrounding ground .

    The trial * at Naples of the Caglmri prisoners have been a / jam suspended . The important silk house of Felix l % uon and Co ., of ¦ limn , hi , 3 suspended payment . The fniliiro has given a great shock to the commercial world . rate n « f o'l , n ? /' 0 rW 81 > 0 n ( l 0 nt ° ° Titne * S ^ cs an elaborates wK /^ aPPr T iat 0 tUs Dcrb > ' wooIO of «>* races wlueh have recently taken plac « , lcar the l > i ,., lcnth nf ? - i " Tli ° « °° l ic ° l W r to ^ very enthusiastic about this English importation ; but they do

    not at present know how to manage the sport properly . The running is bad ; the course is defective ; the horses are not well trained ; the jockeys ( Italians ) are wanting in science . But the ladies attend in the most brilliant of costumes ; the gentlemen talk a great deal of semi-English stable slang ; the king and princes honour the ceremonial with their presence ; and the papers pronounce the races " very splendid . " AUSTRIA . Austria ( says the Morning Star ) is evidently at issue

    -with the propaganda of the Greek -Church , at the most oppose sides of her domains . "We have had to record the arest of the Greek Archimandrite at Zara , in Dalinatia , and there is now a communication from . Gallicia , speaking of tlie arrest of some students of the university of Lemberg , who seem to have been engaged in persuading their Ruthenian countrymen , belonging to the Greek Church , to join that branch of the Church which acknowledges the Emperor of Russia , and not the Greek Patriarch , as its spiritual head .

    < JKEECE . * The settlement of the dispute "between Turkey and Greece as to the extent of consular jurisdiction , has been entrusted to the Austrian Intemuncio at Constantinople . PKUSSIA . The fortifications of Konigsberg are to be considerably strengthened . The works are to l ) e commenced immediately . Additional forts are about to be erected at Spandau . A line of eighteen detached forts , extending as far of the heights of Pichelsdorf , about a mile and a half beyond the town , are to be erected , and Spandau will become a fortress of the first rank .

    RUSSIA . The Emperor of Russia has decided that theatres shall be established in-the nineteen chief towns of the governments of Great Russia , four in Little Russia , four in the Baltic provinces , live in the kingdom of Kasan , three in the kingdom of x \ strafcan , five in Southern Russia , eight in Western Russia , Finland , and Siberia , and five hi Poland . All these . ' theatres are to receive subventions . Schools , for superior instruction are also to be established in all the chief towns of governments and other large places-The Custom-house officers on . the Russian frontier have received the strictest orders not to allow any books printed abroad in the Russian language to enter the country . It is well known that many Russian travellers bring back with them works of a subversive tendency , which are . printed in London .

    TURKEY . The internal condition of European Turkey becomes every day more alarming , and it appears not unlikely that it will gradually . split up , owing to the discontent of the various nationalities subjected to the Porte . The Austrian correspondent of the Times writes r—" Persons who are well acquainted with what is passing in the Slavonic provinces of Tux-key inform me that numerous Russian agents arc busily employed in preparing the people for a general insurrection . Prince Danilo ( of

    Montenegro ) will probably be tlie leader of the movement , as he is again in favour at St . Petersburg , and the Servian II ospodar is a man without energy or spirit of enterprise . At the beginning of this month there was an imeute among the peasants on the estates of Prince Miloscli , in Wallacliiii . The persons who farmed the property had been guilty of such abominable extortion that the serfs lost patience and rose as one man . The farmers sought safety in flight ; but order was not restored until the military power intervened . "

    MONTENEGRO . The Turks have sustained a severe defeat at the hands of their Montenegrin foes . At dawn on the 13 th inst ., the Christians captured a convoy of provisions , and at a later hour they attacked the soldiers of the Sultan , whom tliey completely routed . The Ottoman General , Kadci Pacha , is said to have been killed ; all the guns belonging to his force were taken , and the force itself -was almost annihilated . This took place near Grahovo . With respect to the fight on the 11 th , in which the Turks -were victorious , the Moniteur reports that the Montenegrins lost fifty killed and one hundred and twenty wounded , and that the Turks afterwards occupied Grahovo , which has since been burnt clown—it is said , by the inhabitants . The Turks were about seven thousand strong ; the Montenegrins , five thousand .

    Two French men-of-w . ir have received orders to proceed to the Adriatic , to prevent the landing of furthcr Turkisli reinforcements at Klek . The Paris Monik ' . nr has published the following : — " The lamentable conflicts which have followed " tlio entrance of tho Turkish troops into tlie territory of Grahovo have induced the ( iovornment of the Emperor , and the Powers winch have luiHtcuud to act in the smm « sense , Lo take new measures with the Ottoman Porte . Tho Government of hi . s Mnjesty tho Sultan , paying deference to t . licso counsel * , . sent on tlie 14 th instmit a formal order to Iiirj Connni .-mury and to the Commander of his forces to su .-pend hostilities . Th « ro is , therefore , every reason to hope that , thanks to the common dibits of the Powers and to tho di . sMO . sitiou manifested by Jl » o Ottoman Government , this nHiiir will soon bo brought to mi amicable solution . " The victorious Montenegrins linvo sont a negotiator to Vienna in tho portion of Prince Dunilo'u Adjutant .

    Hussein Pacha has assumed the command of the remnant of the Turkish forces at Trebigna , where he is reorganizing them . SPAIN . The Queen has reinstated the Isturitz Ministry with a few alterations , and has closed the session of the Cortes . Posada Herrera has been nominated Minister of the Interior in the place of Diaz . Herrera sits in Congress as member for Toirelavega , in the province of Santander , and is a nobleman and conservative of the Cbristino stamp . PORTUGAL . One of the most eminent of Portuguese statesmen—Senhor Rodrigo da Fonseca Magalhaens—is just dead .

    No. 426, May 22, 185s.J T J± Jjj Xi Jti ...

    No . 426 , MAY 22 , 185 S . j T J ± Jjj Xi Jti A AJ n J & - 4 iB *> _ r . - —— " ¦ ¦ . - ¦— . ¦ : ¦ ' — '"' '' " *~ * ' " - " -- — ~ - ^ ¦ ' ¦ ^~~ ' : "' ' ' ~~~ r :- : — . ! - - — - .. iz— :: r ~ ¦ : - - ' ¦ ¦ .. . ¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦ __ - __;^_ - _ . ^ .

    The Newroyal Italian Opera House. Openin...

    THE NEWROYAL ITALIAN OPERA HOUSE . OPENING- NIGHT . This magnificent new theatre , a pTodigy of enterprise , and the subject of as many bets as the ]~) erby , was opened according to the announcement which many very knowing " men of the world" pronounced impossible , on Saturday evening last , the 15 th of May , 1858 , a date memorable henceforth in operatic annals . Very considerable sums , we have heard , changed hands on this occasion , and if they fell into the pockets of those who put faith in the energy of contractors as men to whom the word "impossible" is unknown , we cannot but feel that fortune has this time favoured the bold , and that the winners

    have well deserved their good luck . Soon after seven o ' clock the line of carriages extended from Piccadillycircus through Leicester-square and Long-acre to Bow-street , and the " tail" of intrepid and impatient bidders for the unreserved seats completely blocked up Bow-street itself , which was decked out with flags and streamers , and . all the decorations of a triumphal fete . What amount of discomfort was endured by the public on this occasion it boots not Jiere to say ; it were superfluous to sympathize with people who are never happy unless they are in a terrible hurry to get into a theatre which has been built and opened in a terrible hurry . The delay of half an hour in opening the doors appeared , no doubt .

    to the outsiders , something like a centmy ; but when they rushed in at last , they found the new '' house swept and garnished as if the carpenters , and upholsterers , and decorators had not only just hurried out . The first impression was , perhaps ,. some thing 1 like disappointment at the apparent" smallness of the new house in comparison with the old one ; but as this comparative sniallness was only 'apparent , and due to tlie enormous ( and perhaps unnecessary ) vastness of tlip stage , the disappointment soon gave way to surprise and delight At the quiet and simple grandeur and Tidiness of the genersil design , . and . the elaborate but subdued ornamentation . The "breadth of the house and the height of the box-tiers disguise

    at first the largeness of the space ; but ( as in the case of a ship constructed on the finest . lines )' a . near approach and ii prolonged gaze open out by degrees the full sweep and majestic span of the design . Such was the impression , > ve think , on the excited audience last Saturday , the general impression ; -differing ,, of course , as to particularities and details . AV lien the orchestra began to fill with many of the wellknown instrumentalists , the attention of the public , absorbed in contemplation of the architectural achievement , seemed to rally , and the spectators to become an audience ; and when Mr . Costa , appeared in his jiitpitrc ( althoug-h Mr . Costa was as innocent of the prodigious triumph of enterprise as any one he

    present ) was received with a demonstration fit for a Sir Colin Campbell on his return from Indian conquests . We shall only say of the performance of the opera oil the first night , that , underextraordinary difficulties , it was little lesa than marvellous in completeness ami composure ; if the chorus was somewhat uncertain and unsteady , Mario was in good voice , and sang with a will , and Grisi surpassed herself in the duo with Mtn'ccl ami tlie great finalewith liuoul ; Mademoiselle J > idie ' e was a charming Page , and M . Zelger ( in the absence of Formes ) a very suilieient and satisfactory Marcrt . But the most notable fact of all is that tlie new scenery on that stupendous stage , where twenty-four hours before all was chaos , worked without a hitch ! When the third act wns over , and it was already Sunday morning , it became a grave question before and behind the curtain

    whether tho last act ( with Meyerbeer's new additions ) should be played , or whether the National Anthem pt being not only the opening : night , but her Majesty's birthday ) should be sung instead , and the audience requested to depart in peace . After some delay , and ominous murmurs in the upper regions of the house , Mr . A . Harris ( who , conildcnt and , to use a vulgar expression , " cocky" as he is on all other occasions , is singularly humble and depressed 5 n these c-inurgencics ) came forward , and with bated breath appealed to tho audience to decide . A more injudicious proceeding than Kueh an appeal , conveyed with bated breath , and with all the aumblance of abashed humility , could not he imagined , l < "or if it , bo one peculiarity of a British public that it insints on a theatre bcingr built in a hurry , it is another that it takes no

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), May 22, 1858, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22051858/page/9/