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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd December 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1319, Untitled Article

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      days . To an old Indian it is curious to mark the steady improvement in this respect . In 1848 forty-seven days "was no unusual passage from Southampton , and forty-four from Marseilles Passengers fromXondon via Marseilles now arrive in Calcutta almost invariably , on the thirtieth , day from the date of departure . There is now regular steam communication from Calcutta to Burmah , Egypt , the Mauritius , China , Japan , and Australia , all the lines , except one , being the creaV

      tion of the last £ ve years . In the scores of steam navigation projects started within the last few years in Asiatic waters I can remember but one failurethe line to England via the Cape . Our war steam navy in the East , Queen ' s and Company ' s included , is now more than a match for the French , Russian , and Dutch fleets united , while we have a large and yearly increasing mercantile steam marine , composed almost entirely of steamers of more than a thousand tons . "

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      XrCETJM THEATRE . It has seldom been our lot to witness a more genuine tribute of good-will than was offered by the overflowing audience on Monday night at this theatre , on the occasion of its being opened by Madame Celeste . Every quarter of the town sent its hundreds of representatives to admire and applaud the favourite whose loss has been so long and severely felt on the scene of her greatest triumphs , and to encourage her in her new and arduous undertaking . The rental , required by the proprietors of this establishment is , as is -well known , so nearly approaching the " ruinous , '' that , since its occupation by Mr . and llrS . Keeley—whose position , of

      course , enabled them to economise in various ways , not open to managers who are not also actors—it has rarely been tenanted , and when tenanted , has * believe , always failed to be remunerative . With the policy of the owners we have no concern ; but the fact is , that the Lyceum Theatre has throug h it acquired such an upas-like character , that even the wisest on such matters still shake heads and shrug shoulders at the mention of Madame Celeste ' s speculation . We hope , however , that this eminent actress ' s long acquaintance with the mysteries of management , and unquestionable power , will be aided

      by such an amount of discretion , and so able a corps dramatique ; for one eminence in a company is barely enough now-a-daysto attract the spoilt public—that , with the complement of a little good luck , she may be more than equal to the situation . To resume , our notice of the event of Monday : the demonstrations of a very large proportion of the company present , when the favourite came forward to deliver her inaugural address , very nearly approached the pjirenctique . The numerous delegates from all quarters , to whom we have alluded , and who -were interested , as well as in the fair lessee , for sundry members of her troupe known in the eastern , suburban , and transpontine

      theatres , combined all their lung power in a of salvos , the like of which has been of late seldom heard within playhouse walls ; and for sometime delayed the delivery of the speech . That composition , which was of the usual nature , redolent of pluck and promise , being over , the business of the night began . " Paris and Pleasure , or Homo and Happiness , " is the title of a four-act drama of no immoderate length , yet advantageously compressible withal , founded , as the bills ingenuously avow , on " Les Enfers do Paris" of Messrs Roger de Beauvoir and Lambert Thiboust , Mr . Charles . Selby , whose abilities both as ah' actor and dramatist we have often occasion to notice , is the English author—so

      the phraao runs—and has contrived to erect an interesting fabric out of the abundant- materials supplied by the work of his French confreres , rejecting , at the same time much that would possibly , even in tho present ) state of the public tasto , have have been demurred to as of exceptionable propriety . Since a clergyman of tho Established Church was permitted by the conductors of the Times , to tear the veil from ( he Great Social Evil , thoro is no doubt that society lias rushed to contemplafo it with marvellous avidity , and authors of all sorts afid conditions have most liberally supplied the delicacy . Tho writers of prose and . dramatic

      fiction had long since used up , or nearly eo , the salient characters and characteristics of both the upper world and the guttor—and naturally , it appears to us— -welcomed tho now roaourco oponod to them . Hence tho habits and customs of what ia called tho dami monde have boon for three years a very fruitful theme for illustration . Tbplca are now disouseed in drawing-rooms—playa are tolerated on tho stage—volumes , tracts , and articles bristle in tho book shops and the newspaper columns—that would have teen intolerable to the prudery—then called decency and delicacy—of days when wo were younger . " Paris and Pleasure , * ' to uae , for "brevity ' s sake , but one-half of the work ' e title , is a drama of tho

      newschool , as far as England of the nineteenth century is concerned . Its moral is sound and commendable . Its aim is to prove the misery that "waits on licentiousness , the happiness of rustic innocence , and the heart-healing influence of a virtuous home upon a returned prodigal . But the scene of even our modified version is laid in the penetralia of Parisan frivolity ; the characters are of the partly fashionable and partly notorious Quartier Breda ; and , if we mistake not , the now well-ventilated fact that the heroine of the French play ( though not of Mr . Selby ' s ) and her entourage are a parcel of lorettes , will , irrespective of Madame Celeste ' s excellent acting , rapid changes , and superb dressing , do as much for * ' Paris and

      Pleasure" as the mere word Traviata , and the more imaginary than actual correspondence between its plot and that of the Dame aux ' Camellias novel , did for s famous opera , which neither owe its hold upon the public to the interest of its dull libretto or any peculiar master touches as a musical composition . To proceed , however , once more with " Paris and Pleasure : " the scene is laid partly in the gay city , and partly in Brittany . George Kerven ( Mr . F . Villiers ) and Jolicceur Desgenais ( Mr . Walter Lacy ) , gentlemen farmers of Paimpoul in that province , have , we find , left their homes and sweethearts to see the great world . Having plenty of cash and good estates , they have been welcomed classes of either

      with open arms by the predatory sex , and we meet them , in the first act , enjoying a postmasquerade supper , en cabinet particulier , and in fancy dresses , at the Cafe Anglais , with a party of choice spirits from the pays Latin and the Quartier Breda . M . Desgenais seems perfectly acclimatised , and enters heartily into the spirit of the situation ; but Kerven , a milder youth , has qualms of conscience , to contend against , as he throws away his time , money , and health at tliefeet of Mademoiselle Carmen ( MissKate Saville ) , who is , of course , his evil genius . But these gentlemen are not unobserved , The country interest is not unrepresented ; for the neglected Breton girls have an an actress sister in

      Paris—Mademoiselle Champjleure ( nee Champi ) ( Madame Celeste ) , a lorctte , too , in the original , who tracks them through the mazes of dissipation , and , after playing the guardian angel at several momentous crises , at last leads them home in triumph to make her sisters happy . We have no space to spare for such an account of the intrigue of the piece as would render our readers at home with it ; but they will appreciate its Complication when informed that Madame Celeste appears in no less than eight characters . She is in turn a Breton peasant , a

      mouchard , a benevolent lady of quality , an usurer s clerk , a Parisian flaneur , again a peasant , and her first appearance of all is in a terrestrial version of the nameless one himself . We were glad to observe that she was in excellent force . Albeit harassed by the incessant dressing and re-dressing , she displayed in many situations much of that extraordinary and indescribable power for which she is justly celebrated . The representatives of the Breton peasant girls were Miss Iludspcth and Miss Julia St . George : the former played a gentle , the latter a shrewish , victim , with nil propriety . Mr . Villiers' part required ' no it aiter

      more genius than he infused into , ana Mr . w Lucy made some excellent points in a scene 111 the Ciichy debtors' prison , into which the pair find their way on the road to ruin . Miss Saville , again , late of " Ivy Hall" at the Princess ' s Theatre , whom we conisder an actress of great promise , and from whom we also expect much , looked so charming us Millie . Carmen , that the flig . it of her adorer ' s assets could bo no mystery . The bill abounds with othor characters more or less prominont and necessary to the action , and all ndequatoly represented , The niece was . we need hardly say , most warmly received ,

      and for the reason Ave have suggested above , as well as tho tasteful elaboration tho manageress has applied to tho mine en scene , may probably hold the stago until Christmus , ngainst which time new and striking attractions ore , they t ( oll us , inactive preparation . Among thoso arc a new comedietta , laughably entitled , " Tho Key under tho Door-mat 5 " a now , " original , " and historical drama , by Mr . Tom Taylor ; an extravaganza , by Mr . Talfourd , and a comic pantomime . 'We had all but forgotten—and it had been too bad—to mention that tho old comic piece , " A Phenomenon in a Smock Frock" has followed the drama during tho week , and has introduced to notice a vory good low comedian—Mr . Rouse . has hitherto delighted tho provinces and tho East end , but deserves a foothold , and will , tvo think , establish , a position with tho western public .

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      Pkinokss ' s Trhatrb . — It ia with no email satisfaction that tho critic oirolo , that have for some time watched with no unsympathetic eye tho difficulties encountered by th , o new lossoo of tho Princess s Theatre , have been able to record aw unanimous and very w » irin verdict in favour of his . last now effortnamely , " Homo Truths , " adapted by Mr . Roynoldson , an able Iftronoh scholar and a practlsod hand at the work , from the Vronok of Einllo Augler . The

      original five-act blank-verse comedy of " Gabrielle , " as loyally espousing , in a loose age , the cause of pomesticity and virtue , and being , moreover , quasi dramatic composition , a work of considerable elegance and yet simplicity , was considered worthy of a national premium , and held the stage for some time at the Theatre Franc , ais . If Mr . Reynoldson ' s admirable version , charmingly acted as it is by all concerned , have not a similar fortune at the Princess ' s , we may , indeed , join heartily with those who ascribe the decline of hisfcirOnic art and the failure of dramatic composition to a thoroughly vitiated public taste . The plot turns upon an axis , which has been , of course , used recentl

      before ( and with which the public were y familiarised in " The House and the Home" ) namely , the absorption of Mr . Vaug han , a working barrister ( Mr . George Melville ) , in his profession , to the neglect of his lady-wife ( Mrs . Charles Young ) . ' A friend ( a la mode ) of the family , Mr . Beaumont ( Mr . I . G . Shore ) , proposes to supply the void in her affections , and has gained a footing before the opening of the drama . We are permitted to watch his advances and to observe how the weakened defences of the lady ' s honour are lei . nforced at a most critical moment by the intervention of Mrs . Saffron ( Miss Carlotta Leclercq ) , another young married woman , of warm heart , sound sense , and feminine perception , aided by the green-eyed monster incarnate in the person of Mr . Adolphus Saffron F . Matthews ( half and half to

      Mrs . S . ) , who , not satisfied with playing Argus on his own account , constitutes himself a kind of amateur detective on behalf of the pre-occupied Vaughan , and planting the husband in ambush , shows him—thoug h her principles and character are yet safe- —how crumbling a hold he has upon his wife ' s heart , and exposes the meditated treason of the friend : How to use the information is Vaug han ? s question ; and he elects , not to fight , fast or tear himself , but to crush " the viper out of Beaumont with beriefits . He leaves him in special charge of the wife and the home , runs up to town , meets the premier , and is speedily down again with an offer of a lucrative place for him . He finds him en-te'te-a tete with Mrs . Vaughan , and , on his refusing the proffered appointment , draws from him the avowal that his reason is an attachment for a married

      woman . This is the situation of the piece . The righteous and well-expressed sentiments of the author , with reference to the indicated crime and its consequences , afeg-iveii in the best of quiet taste by Mr . Melville , whose every-word is a sting to the horror-stricken wife and to the treacherous friend . Mrs . Young and Mr . Shore , who , during this harrowing scene , have little to do but listen , contrive , the former especially , to express emotions , and thus add to , without damaging-, the tableau . We need hardly add that the scheme is effective , and the lowering cloud passing over leaves the honour of the lady

      unsullied , and her affections in a sounder state , Vhilo Mr . Beaumont , it is presumed , seeks a worthy field for his talents and trouble . Mr . Shore is a rapidly improving artist , and , perhaps , is too obliging to tho centre of the group by standing for fifteen minutes on one flower of the carpet . The personage he enacts would not have done so under the circumstances ; but we can imagine this " stuck-pig" repose to bo . more the result of dictation than of misconception . Of Mrs . Chas . Young and Mr . Melvillu ( whom lato we . saw in Hnmlet , and expressed opinions now realised ) we i uniucing

      cannot speak more highly—to our w ; v or —than to say they acted as would hiivo done the lady aiid gentleman t hey represent . Mr . Mclyiue Has taken a praiseworthy liberty with a rotten old stage custom in wearing enough whiacor to make him look a handsome , manly young iy , ow ; and his general carriage and conception of \ m part are open to no exception . Miss Carlotta Leclorq' did all that was right with thonicc little part of Mrs . Saffron , and Mr . UY Matthew , n ' s the retired attorney overflowing with bonhommie , show-oil us how entirely he tlio iui

      can when ha ploasos , cast oft' cap u peu » mum . occasionally injure his efforts . Tiiero is but one drawing-room scono throughout , but that Is a marvel of inffoimlty nnd completeness , io the whole cast of tho interesting pieoo , no loss than its author and adaptor , we may ndd ( and a raro tiling , too , Joy Sties ) that wo felt personally indebted fox-a most agreeable and well-spent hoiir-and-a-hali .

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      Amono thoatrical doings of tho week , on which wo have no room for lengthy opinions , have been the production of a well-written but plotless , and , therefore incomplete and uninteresting , comedietta , Chatterbox , " at tho St . James ' s Theatre 1 of a trifling piece at the Strand- " Shameful Behaviour » not worth our notice , or the varied talent of the artists engaged upon it 5 and of a auocosslul Wjou- ~ 2 A Base . Impostor , " confcctlonated from the French by Mr . Horace Wlgan , and nicely acted by that gentleman nnd othors , tho Olympic company .

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      MUSIC AND THE DRAMA .

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      No . 506 . Dec . 3 , 1859 . ] THE LEADER . 1319

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 3, 1859, page 1319, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2323/page/11/