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978 THE LEADER. [Saturday ,
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International 1'ostaoi; Association.—Thi...
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Cmnmtrtta! Main
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MONEY MARKET AND CITY INTELLIGENCE. Blil...
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FOKKH1N FUNDS. tN piN<» (Last OvvioiAr. ...
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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 Winter Theatres. Now Our Season May ...
Apropos of Aristotle , and Greek writers generally , I have an explanation to offer to Maria , who " wonders" why I can't " leave Greek and Latin to snuffy pedants and writers in quai-terly reviews . " A little German , Spanish , Italian , or French , she thinks , serve to vary the style ; but Greek and Latin she doesn't understand , and , therefore , looks upon them as impertinent . Now , as Maria , in the same breath , calls me " frivolous " ( Tran-aiag !) , I will initiate her into my secret . Ancient writers ( doesn't it sound imposing ?) mention a dwarf poet living in Athens or Rome , who was so small and light that his friends
fastened lead to his sandals to prevent the wind toppling him over . There ' s " levity" for you , Maria ! And there you see the virtue of lead . I take the hint . Conscious of my own specific levity , I leaden my remarks with imposing Greek , or formidable philosophy . For you will have noticed in the British mind an incurable suspicion of all vivacious talkers and writers . A solemn ass is so respectable—a " joker" is not to be * listened to . As it is not in my nature to be grave , I borrow my gravity from the Greeks . Greek covereth a vast array of ignorance . Greek endoweth stupidity with an air of very supreme wisdom . That which in English would be commonplace , an adroit writer puts in Greek , and then
" How the wit brightens !—how the style refines I " It has been my lot ( I may say misfortune ) to have read a considerable amount of Greek in my time , and , honestly , the best use I have found for it has been for lead to my sandals . I harass Jones with Greek ; he would despise me if it were not for that ; but as he does not know what depths of wisdom may not lie concealed in the mind of a man who calls himself iroXvbaKpvTos dvrjp ( a really fine phrase , by the way—" the many-sorrowed man ! " ) , and who tells him that ipadev icp' aviirade ( "he has learned through the things he has suffered" ) , Jones keeps contempt in abeyance—though , to be sure , he replaces it with dislike . I harass him , and he hates me . I crush his arguments by a quotation which he doesn't understand , and so he is silent , because he is ashamed to ask the meaning !
Having replied to Maria , I am now called upon to defend myself against another correspondent , whose charge is , I regret to say , more serious , though it is wrapped up in such delightful flattery , that I can only kiss the hand that chastises ( imaginatively , of course !) I am called upon to laugh at , or be indignant with myself—a feat not easy , although I have abundant laughter , and no deficiency of indignant blood in reference to others . But you shall hear the charge : — " I am doubtful whether this letter , complaining of one of your favourite correspondents , will have a chance of being noticed ; but cannot refrain , an attempt to reach ' Vivian ' s' conscience , and make him think again abo ut reading Uncle Tom ' s
Cabin . He says that he cannot take an active part in the anti-slavery movement , therefore does not want his feelings excited on the subject . Is not that a sentiment he would laugh at in any one else ?—if , indeed , he would not treat them with utter contempt . I have seen a country squire hurry from a room every time the subject of Free-trade was introduced , fearing he might be converted ; and have heard an old lady exclaim against listening to , or reading a hook on vegetarianism , because there mig ht he some truth in it , and for the world she wouldn't have her mind unsettled on the subject . And every body knows the repugnance that orthodox people have to discuss theology . But that 'Vivian '—the bold , energetic , all-persuasive Vivian—should shrink from any struggle where right and wrong
contend , passes all belief ! " I assert , that he can take an active part in the cause ; for his opinion , given pleasantly but vividly in one of his careless articles , has an electric influence , and strikes far down into the hidden feelings of many hearts ! He could thus work more effectively than half the noisy , bustling professors , and do more real good than those who merely contribute silver and gold . I contend , that he has no right to draw back and ' bury Ms talent ! ' For a punishment , I would like to oblige him to sit still , and peruso calmly every page of that hook ; and I should take a malicious pleasure watching the tears roll down his cheeks , or the blood rush to his brow , as imagination pictured the wrongs of humanity , until his very soul was
stirred , and he had resolved to think again whether he could not do somethui aid of the Eight . " I am , respectfully , S m " One of Vivian's many unknown Pemaie Admieees " " Thou almost persuadest me to be an Abolitionist . " I suppose I ouaU to feel repentant , and at once take up Uncle Tom ' s Cabin ; there is on thing that would decide me , and that is for my Fair Unknown to com and sit beside me while I read it . , GaZeotto fu , il libro ^ h ! 0 e thinks of Fanny Rimini and her Vivian ! , ' e
But perhaps all this is digressive ; and some acharnS playgoer will h impatient at my not writing tip to my title , telling him " all about" the Theatres . What does he care for Unknown Correspondents ; thev don't write to him ! Well , then , to be theatrical : we were speakW of Aristotle ; no , he was dragged in apropos of the British Drama—sadly in want of an Aristotle , still more in want of a Sophocles . The British Drama , then , is opening her Temples—and there is an . agitation in several of the Lay Pulpits . For example , Dreary Lane , having found a manager still more enterprising than even Bunn the Magnificent , " her Majesty ' s servants" have been performing Richelieu , Richard III ., and the Hunchback , in a style which—I am credibly informed—would not disgrace the finest Barn in the three kingdoms . The Adelphi has also re-opened—Madame Celeste making her first appearance since her tour in America and welcomed with enthusiasm by her staunch admirers . The Hay !
market re-opened with the old company performing Money , with Barry Sullivan as Evelyn , rather alarming in the matter of costume : why does he not take a hint from Leigh Murray ? And on Thursday the Road to Ruin introduced a debutante , Miss Kosa Bennett , to a London public , and Alfred Wigan to his old friends of the Haymarket . At Sadleb ' s Wells there has been a " revival" of Massinger ' s Gity Madam , very dexterously altered as regards the text , very carefully mounted as regards costume and scenic disposition , and very powerfully acted as regards Phelps ' s personation of Luke . I have not been able to see it yet , but a critic , for whose opinion I have unqualified respect , both as to sagacity and independence , assures me that more than once the acting reminded him of the force and lionlike rapidity of Kean . [ Mem . for innocentsnot Charles . ]
From this rapid glance at the " opening preparations for the winter campaign , " you perceive that I shall have enough to do shortly ; meanwhile let me tell you of the new melodrame at the Princess ' s ,
MONT ST . MICHEL . It has been got up with all the care and beauty for which the house is renowned , and achieved & succes de spectacle in spite of the feebleness of the drama . The situations are good and very picturesque ; but , partly from the want of organic life in the piece , and partly from the poorness of the acting , the applause was almost solely due to the scene-painters and the stage-manager . A piquant and original ballet , which opens the piece—a very striking scene of soldiers dismantling a castle—a thrilling pantomimic scenewhere Miss Leclercq climbs into the castle by the window ,
, swings herself on to an old chest of drawers , descends , carries off the papers , and makes her escape by the same route , while the startled soldiers mistake her for a fairy as she stands in the moonlight ^ for an instant , and then leaps from the window—these were the " points" of the first act ; in the second act there is a wonderful scene of the Sands by night , covered by mist , and the gradual breaking of day dispelling the mist . But although the applause was uproarious , it was , as I said before , almost exclusively given to the spectacle . When materially shortened , 1 have no doubt the decorations will ensure it a run .
_ , , Wright made his first appearance at this theatre in Mont Sf . Michel , and was welcomed like a favourite . Ho did his best to make the part ot Thihaut funny , and the audience laughed where they could ( and you know how little it takes to make an audience laugh ) , but , on the whole , they felt that they were laughing at Wright , and not at Thibaut . Vivian .
978 The Leader. [Saturday ,
978 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
International 1'Ostaoi; Association.—Thi...
International 1 ' ostaoi ; Association . —This important subject is making its way with steadiness and rapidity , and the arguments of the London Association arc beginning to be echoed from foreign lands . It will , we think , help a cause which involves good of many kinds , if we give an example of the spirit in which this question i . s viewed in a country that has not , like England and the United States , had any practical experience of its benefits . The lle . raldo , of Madrid , has a leading article on tho subject , advocating warmly the system of jjrc-pai / mcnt ; but not that sort of " prepayment" now existing between Spain and England , which franks tho letter to tho borders of the kingdom , leaving an exorbitant payment to be made for its conveyance into tho interior of the country . It proposes tin ? adoption of an uniform stamp postage on all letters going abroad . The writer declares it an his decided opinion , that the amount accruing from the carriage of letters should not constitute public income , but should merely pay the actual expenses of the service . Ho lays great stress on tho trouble and expense consequent , on the unpaid system in the keeping of-intricate accounts between nations , —which , in the end , lie says , musk leave but little hulnnoe on either sido , as generally speaking , each letter has its answer , and the exceptions will be as numorouH on tho one side hh on the other . The Courier and Enquirer , of New York , has also an article on the Hume text ; in which , after referring to tho evidence of Mr . llowliuid Hill to tho cflect that distance adds littlo to the cost of conveyance of letters , the writer snys : " The micro weight and bulk of a letter would occupy a hardly appreciable place in the scale ot ordinary freight . ' * " Tkoro arc plucoa within fifty milcB
of New York to which a letter cannot be sent with so little handling and at so little actual trouble and cost to the party conveying it , as if sent to Rio Janeiro , to St . Petersburgh , to Cairo , to Hong Kong , or to Australia ; and yet , while the postage in the former case is but 3 cents , in the latter it is 87 , 44 , Gl , 65 , and * 73 cents respectively . " " The new principle of tow rates and many totters has utterly supplanted tho old principle of hiqh rates and few letters , wherever a trial has been made between the two , and it must some time become universal to the whole post-office system throughout the world . " Ireland adds her voice to those of our foreign neighbours . The Dublin Advocate has a long and able article on the subject ; in which the great importance of the measure- to that country is forcibly demonstrated . " It behoves Ireland , " says the writer , " to stir in the matter , for she is tho most deeply interested portion of the kingdom by tho extent of her emigration . It was proved before the I ' aoket-Station Commissioners that a very large proportion of the American mails wore made up , of Irish letters . Out , of 7 ( 5 , 501 ) letters despatched by packet , from . Liverpool to the United ? States of America and Canada , in December 1850 , 28 , 018 worn from -Ireland . Tho greater portion of all those Irish letters were between emigrants settled abroad , and their relations at home -just the very clans to whom a high postage is tho heaviest penalty . " The wrilor argues that the best mode of inducing foreign nations to join us in establishing a cheap and uniform Hyst « m of international postage would be the immediate application of it to our own colonies , —whither thousands of Germans , Americans , and othorw , are wow hurrying . *—Athenaeum .
Cmnmtrtta! Main
Cmnmtrtta ! Main
Money Market And City Intelligence. Blil...
MONEY MARKET AND CITY INTELLIGENCE . BlilTISH FUNDS FOR THE PAST Y ! K \ UL . ( Clohino Piucks . ) " Satur . Mond . Tue $ . Wedn . Thur * Friil . Bank Htook XM 3 per Cent . Rod W > 1 ;¦ : ; .: „;; , { ' .. 8 per C « nt . Oon . Aim . 100 100 !<>< { { - 3 por Cent . Con ., Ac . KM ) 100 100 10 <> k M '" * ' ;; 3 J por Cent . An Now C > por Contn Long Ann ., 1 HU 0 •••¦¦• "" .. India Block 27 » 27 « > llH t ' .. Ditto HoiuIh , iilOOO HO H « ' .. Ditto , under . fc 1000 H « J ™ vl . ; Kt . JJillH , U 1000- « 7 p ( IHp « H p 71 p " » Ditto , £ 500 71 p 7 \ V Ditto , Hmiill 71 p 7 ^ P _ j ; - _ - —
Fokkh1n Funds. Tn Pin<» (Last Ovvioiar. ...
FOKKH 1 N FUNDS . tN piN <» ( Last OvvioiAr . Quotation diiiiim t » ij « AVkkk h TllUUSDAY IfiVKNINU . ) ^ ^ 0 IlriiKllian , Hiniill 101 Peruvian : ! pe v \ f " Z .. ' . l "'\ Unwiliiiii , H « rij ) 1 ])•«> . ituNN . im 4 J | Kir i j o' uBf Dutoh 'M por ( Wh Ml Hariliiiiaii fi pj » ^ , )( , f . SMl Dutch 4 por Oenl . Ortif . l >() ft Hpnnm . . jp . Ulw- ; ( . ,,,, t . Mexican 3 per CcntM 24 J 1 H 5 V 3 .... ;• ' Ml Peruvian , 1 H 4 . 1 ) KK » 4 Venezuela ....... ¦
Ad02206
QECRETAltY WANTED , ^ ft ^ ffl jK O and HUNWiriKlO 1 NKTITI T ON , J <>» " , „ ,. « ,.. . KITZKOV HQUAKlC-TIi * Ollloo I . ei . ^ l' < " ; ( , ( , , ] m . > i >» Candidate * mart H . ' » . d in ^ ritt . ' . i . tpi . l . o . ttum « ^ -v ,,,., < «»' of ohuiaotor ami ability . addreHHed to <¦ ! „ , H » I ^ V ; , )( , foro Tuemlay , OHobor l « th , ^ % } [ ., " It ^ nn l ,.. tw ««« DuticH , An ., win only l >« nmd « m tho Con . iinu tU « hour * of Hovou ^ J « ^ ° ^ 'SjYJJ . *< . ? »« " '"
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1852, page 22, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09101852/page/22/
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