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    No. 435, Jpiy 24, 1868.] THE LEAP.EB. 71...

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    /flf U p ^vl rfpi ^cb iji- AlllZl *

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    had an ovation on the occasion of her re...

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  • 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.

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    The Age. The Age; A Colloquial Satire. B...

    throats of the Chinese ; and the equally wearisome and more offensive foreign libel , that the Hindoos were living " content . " Till we , resolved upon their peace and good , Their laws and lives have drown'd in their own blood . Does Mr . Philip James Bailey imagine this is satire ? If so , he grievously mistakes what satire is . Satire is nothing but the pointed expression of public indignation against vice and folly ; and is never genuine when it seeks to maintain individual crotchets and aberrations . It must appeal 'directly to the moral sympathies of the public for which it is written , and not attempt to be the vehicle for doctrines held by a narrow sect . Its office is not to preach , but to criticize ; and to do this

    poetically , it must appeal to old recognized principles , and not to principles which remain to De proved and adopted . We have touched here on the great defect of this so-called " Satire . " It . is an exposition of Mr . Bailey ' s own particular views , which are not particularly attractive , instead of a stinging criticism of recognized evils . The work is deformed , too , by vulgarisms which are not humorous ; and by trivialities which are not colloquial . Verbtim sap . We need not quote many instances ; and shall indeed quote none , unless in runiiing our eye down those we have marked we find some irresistible impertinence . Unfortunately here is one at once : —

    To England ' s liberties , already got By open vote , we will to change it not . We object to the opinion—at least that in the second line—more than to the expression in the following :- — In my view , though not worth depending , The vote wants raising rather than extending . When Mr . Bailey does not attempt to be funny he rises towards the sublime :-

    —Still , I am one to whom Old England ' s glorious At all times ; most of all when she ' s victorious . One moment checked , the volume of her force Enlarges , river-like , by length of course .. That changeless ctarm , —my country ' s only dower , — Of pare success , and ever greatening power , - Hallows her-cause ; to me her flag endears , . . . Though sometimes stained with blood , and sometimes steeped in tears . But our author is not without wit : —

    Our meannesses by lofty names we signify , - As Jove and Juno may twin puppies dignify . The following , though said for the thousandth time , is not strictly true ; and though said for the thousandth time is well said : . ' If you mean the public grace to earn , You must assume their very thoughts , words , attitudes ; For trade-winds only blow in the low latitudes . There are some hundreds of couplets worth quoting in this poem ; but we refer the reader to it . He will then be able to see what connexion , if any , they have with the general design , if any design there be . For our part we have spoken

    very freely of Mr . Bailey , because we respect" his talent ; and think it ill employed , If not thrown away , in this kind of writing . He is rather a poetical critic of men and things than a satirist ; and severity is so little suited to his temperament that , in assuming it , he often becomes coarse . Yet , as will be ^ nlened fro m what we have said , this book is remarkable and well worth reading . We do not so often meet with originality even that offends us ; and Mr . Bailey does not borrow conventional phrases to express conventional ideas , always stamping the impress of his name ou whatever he writes .

    No. 435, Jpiy 24, 1868.] The Leap.Eb. 71...

    No . 435 , Jpiy 24 , 1868 . ] THE LEAP . EB . 719

    /Flf U P ^Vl Rfpi ^Cb Iji- Alllzl *

    Cjn : ! rt 0 .

    Had An Ovation On The Occasion Of Her Re...

    had an ovation on the occasion of her reappearance in Norma on Tuesday . It is superfluous to say more than that the Grisi of to-day h ? s gained from Father Time in fire and grandeur more than all he has taken from her in youth and vocal flexibility . Signor Tamberlik , who was welcomed with enthusiasm after his long absence , was all that the part of Pollione permitted . At Drury Lane , Mr . E . T . Smith , the lessee , who would seem to have taken the old saw of " Audaces fortuna juvat" for his blazon , wound up his Italian operatic season , previous to a transpontine enterprise at the Surrey Zoological Gardens , with a praiseworthy and ( considering the forces at his disposal ) a

    very successful dash at the Don Giovanni . The opera was supported by Madame Viardot Garcia as Donna Anna , Madame Persiani as Zerlina , Madame Sedlatzek as Elvira , Signor Badiali as the Don , Signor Rovere as Leporello , Signor Naudin as Don Oltavio , Signor Manfredi as the Comme . nda . tore . The two prime donne and Signor Rovere contrived , in spite of certain deficiencies in the chorus and some of the minor parts , to carry the performance to a very satisfactory conclusion , and reaped the enthusiastic plaudits , if not of the connoisseurs , at least of the general company . The opera was followed by the English musical piece of The Waterman , in which Mr . J . Newcombe—anew representative of i ? o &»»—made a

    good impression both as vocalist and comedian . Upon the usual call for the manager—who , by-the-way was special beneficiare of the night—Mr . E . T . Smith favoured the company with a speech , characterized by all his usual forcible bonhomie . He pointed with pardonable pride to his successes , realized predictions and triumphs over critics and croakers . He claimed to have illustrated on the hoards of his own theatre the politico-economical possibility of a good and cheap opera ; and congratulated himself and his great patrons , the masses , upon the satisfactory state of their relations . He announced , also , that the Pyne and Harrison English opera company may be expected to open this theatre on the 13 th of September , and again after Chrismas , with some novelties of in-¦

    the committee . The resolution to adopt the report was moved by Mi * . Dickens , who , after eulogizing Mr . Kean , delighted the meeting with an ingenious comparison of the holy and charitable compact they were then ratifying , and the infernal fcond which would be put in action between Skylock and Antcnio , on the scene of their meeting somewhat later in the day . Messrs . Kean , Dickens , Thackeray , and Webster , were next appointed trustees . The latter

    gentleman , in moviDg the opening of a public subscription , announced that there was every hope of obtaining the patronage of the Sovereign when the arrangements of the subscribers were more matured . He also promised a supply of stone from a property of his own , to be employed in the architectural decoration of the building . Messrs . Coutts and Co . and Robarts and Co . -were named "bankers , and the amount subscribed before the adjournment of the meeting was considerably in excess of 7 OOZ .

    Death of Mr . George Bartxtst . —Mr . George Bartley , . who has been identified for half a century with the history of the modern stage , died on Wednesday evening last , in the seventy-seventh year of his age . He was born in 1782 , and retired from the stage in 1853 , on which occasion he had the honour of performing Falsiaff , at the Princess ' s Theatre , before her Majesfcy . The Swedish Minstrels , from whose first appearance we drew such favourable augury , still continue to draw crowded audiences , and are decidedly the fashion . While they retain the gentle and talented Mdlle . Humler as violin soloist , they have adopted also Madame Itiedes , a vocalist of modern French school , possessing a good and effective voice and a fascinating style of singing .

    The Koxal Gardens , Vauxhali ., seem almost doomed to immortality . Still promising to close for ever , » we find them open every year with a fresh blaze of triumph . One would have thought the all-devouring town , abhorring as it does a vacuum , would have long since popped a factory or two little by-streets on to that time-honoured enclosure , which can only be useful , ornamental , or remunerative for a mere fraction of each year . But no ! come wind , come rain , come every damp upon the spirit of proprietors and the public , the Vauxhall of our childhood and our father ' s father ' s childhood , still opens its canvas bowers and wooden glades to uncritical youth and reflective age , an annual immoiHelle . This event took place for the presnet year on the evening of the

    terest .:. ... . ¦ ¦ ¦ .., ¦ . ¦ ¦ . ' , .. /; . The Lycecbi Theatre was opened on Saturday last with yet another English rendering of the Italian operatic version of the French novel of the Dame aum Camelias . Worn is the story , and wearisome are the versions which , to steer clear of each other , must perforce assume as they come souie deeper cast of dulness . So little trace of the original mainspring of young Dumas ' s novelet now remains , though many of the incidents are preserved , that the heroine appears as a marriageable widow . The part of Violetta St . Valerie was nicely played by Mrs . Charles Young , but with this exception there is little to be said in favour of the last edition of the Traviata .

    17 th , when a grand j uvenile entertainment was successful in captivating a goodly number of children . A ballet of juvenile dancers was succeeded by sundry clever feats of horsemanship by young riders . A concert followed , in which the most prominent performance was the " . experiences of a sailor , " being the . sad misfortunes of " Billy Waters , " a nautical burlesque , sung by Mr . J . G . Ford , which , we may fairly say , may rank as one of the cleverest of its very numerous family . Dancing and good fireworks followed , and the evening wound up , as usual at Vauxhall , with a smart shower . That we have watched this revival with interest for the sake of old associations is proved by the space we have devoted to it .

    On Thursday Mrs . Wilkins ( announced in the bills as widow of the late Serjeant Wilkins ) made her first appearance in the Lady and Gentleman , in a peculiarly perplexing predicament , an event which calls for no further comment . The fairy afterpiece of the Lancashire f \ r itc 7 tes is redeemed from a dulness which neither Tilbury , as a rotund King Arthur , nor J . Clarke , as a small jester , can , with all their exertions , dissipate , by the very agreeable singing of Mrs . Howard Paul in the part of Sir Lancelot ^ du Lac . Dkamatic College . —A crowded public meeting was held oh Wednesday at the Princess ' s Theatre for the purpose of setting on foot a Dramatic College . Mr . Charles Kean presided , and among the celebrities

    Cjlose of the Exhibitions . —The various exhibitions of pictures by modern artists close their doors for the present season this afternoon . The committees hand over the proceeds of the sales to their constituents , and the works of art to their new owners . While the latter are rejoicing over each new acquisition with the necessary alloy of indecision about hanging , light , and so on , which is the aman aliquid —at least so we have always found it of fine art property—such of the former as have not already departed scheme portable easels and more elastic knapsacks than can ever by any possibility be worked out , and pore over handbooks and guide-books to d istraction . Landlords under Snowden and Helvellyn .

    present were Sir W . de Bathe , Mr . Brady , M . P ., Mr . Charles Dickens , Mr . B . Webster , Mr . T . P . Cooke , Mr . Harley , Mr . James Anderson , Mr . Nelson Lee , Mr . Meadows , Mr . Frank Matthews , & c . & c . The scheme of the proposed institution , which appeared in all the daily papers of Thursday , we have not space here to recapitulate . Suffice it to say that it is proposed to provide a collegiate hall , with residences and allowances , for such ancient playera as may come within the scope of the institution to the number of ten males and ten females in the first instance . The Chairman informed the meeting that the proposed charity was already under great obligations to Mr . Henry Dodd , who had given one hundred guineas nnd five acres of land towards its foundation . Mr . Kean then eloquently drew the

    atseason , or unseasonable performances , commenced on Tuesday with the Huguenots of Meyer-Deer , cast as before . . Mademoiselle Titiens and Bignor Giuglini , as Valentino , and Raoul , drew down thunder * of applause from full houses in the great scene of the third act . At Her Majesty ' Theatre the reduced price performances have been very successful ; but Mademoiselle Titiens is said to be enf ? ! ? Viennft » and Piccolomini and Giuglini nt iJublin , 80 that the performances will scarcely extend beyond another weok . Kovax Itajjun OfEBA . —Madame Qrisi of course

    The out of ? Her Majesty ' s Theatre . —The subscription season at this house was brought to a triumphant conclusion on Saturday last by the finished performance of // Trovatore , with Mademoiselle Titiens , Madame Alboni , and Signor Giuglini in the principal pnrts ; followed by the new ballet of Lucilla , in which Mademoiselle Boachetti appeared for the first time this season . This lady has lost none of the force or finish which stamped her as a public favourite lust year .

    Ben Lomond , and perhaps Mount Blanc , prepare for the coming swarm ; for in a week ' s time Charlottestreet and the other pictorial neighbourhoods will be deserted , and the hungry hunters after the picturesque will be upon you ! We had purposed to say a few more last words about the picture exhibitions , but , as under pressure of limited space the weakest part must give way , we are forced for the moment to defer that pleasure perhaps indefinitely We have been informed , and are gratified to pass the information as wo have it to our amateur readers , that the celebrated " Waiting for the Verdict , " exhibited in last year ' s Academy Exhibition by Mr . A .

    tention of his auditory to the claims of the player upon public consideration , member us he was of a profession which had numbered among its members men like Alleyne and Shakspeurc , vhoso benevolence nnd genius have secured them immortality . The Drury Lane ami Covent Garden Theatrical Funds Iiad expressed their intention of erecting the first two houses upon the estate conveyed to the charity l > y Mr . Dodd . The General Theatrical Fund provided a third , nnd ho himself would undertake the fourth . This announcement was received with enthusiasm . The secretary , Mr . Cullenford , then read the report describing the nature of the Dodd Gift , and giving an outline of the proposed collegiate scheme . He informed the meeting ; that to adopt the report would bo the proper mode of confirming the provisional acccx > taucc of the Berkshire estate by

    Solomon , and which very deservedly attracted no small share of public attention , has at last found a purchaser . The very fidelity with which the painful nature of the subject was rendered by Mr . Solomon left the picture long upon his hands , but during- the lust few days it has changed owners . It has been purchased by Mr . ! Lucas , the eminent contractor , 00 well known in connexion with the rebuilding of Covent Garden Theatre , who , on dit , has com missioned the talented artist to paint a companion picture illustrative of the light side , as " Waiting for the Verdict" is of the dark one , of a court of criminal justice .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 24, 1858, page 23, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24071858/page/23/