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the crown of creation ; and it is only such a man as this who is dangerous to me , and with whom I am inclined to fall in love . But then propriety forbids it . And Moses and all European legislators declare it to be sinful , and all married women would consider it a sacred duty to stone me . Nevertheless , I cannot prevent the Shall I tell you the peculiar attraction ? It is simpl y that Frederika is a daughter of Eve , and longs for the forbidden fruit . While clusters of perfect apples glitter on every tree around her , ready to drop into her mouth if she will but open it , she fixes a longing gaze at the insipid fruit , made piquant to her imagination by being forbidden . While Bachelors with well-oiled whiskers and radiant waistcoats smile at her side , she fixes her gaze on some imbecile Benedict who sleeps after dinner , wears easy boots , talks nonsense to babies about their tootsy pootsies , and smiles dotingly on those dirtyfaced " citoyens dont il croit etre le pere . " I have knawn married men , and
I pledge you my honour they were all perfectly stupid individuals . Even gay Jack Harris , once the lion of all our parties , has sunk into the lazy complacent married man , about whom nobody cares , except that meek , pale , sickly wife of his , and . those obstreperous children , who dislocate my watchchain and press their jam-stained fingers on my lavender trousers . No , Miss Bremer , no ! a married man may be very " respectable , " but , as to his attractiveness , allow me , in the name of a very numerous and happy class , distinctly to deny it . Besides , you are playing a dangerous game . If women learn to look with your eyes , what will become of us ? If bachelors are not the targets for assassinating glances , do you know what will come of it ? Why , this : every woman will be loving somebody else ' s husband ; and then I leave you to guess what Mrs . Grundy will say ! British Bachelors , arise ! Vivian .
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THE DRAMA . Duury- ^ ane . —On . Monday Bayle Bernard ' s drama of * The Passing Cloud " was produced with a strong cast , and by some inexplicable caprice on the part of the audience was sufficiently successful to induce its announcement for every pvenin" -. We were not able to be present on the first night , and cannot therefore say where the enthusiasm of the audience possibly found points to lay hold of ; but on the second night , the peculiarities of the piece , to us , seemed its skilful avoidance of any sort of interest , and the astonishing patience with which the scanty pit sat out without a murmur what it nowhere found a chance of heartily applauding . Mr . Bernard is perhaps the very best writer of small comedies , farces , and dramas we have had for many years . His dialogue is always excellent , his stage-tact admirable , the animation of his pieces incessant ;
but in " The Passing Cloud" we see no traces of his hand . It might have been written in a lethargy . Its somnolence is oppressive . Though but in two acts , and with scarcely any plot , it occupies time enough for a five-act tragedy . Dreary beyond words to paint was the effect of the dialogue , spoken by the actors without animation , and falling into the chilling silence of the pit . People came in and went out ; they talked and sat in chairs ; then somebody else came in and went away again , but why they came in , what they did there , why they went away , and why they ever returned , seemed to us a mystery of dramatic art . Every now and then we expected the piece was growing to a culmination of interest , but no sooner was the expectation formed than the author dexterously contrived to avoid the situation as if it were a peril . Had " The Passing Cloud "
been signed by a less known name we could have understood the piece ; the explanation would have been here is a gentleman -who confounds a love of the drama with dramatic power ; " but Bayle Bernard—a man of wit , literature , and ripe experience in theatrical exigencies—to have signed so deplorable a mistake seems to us only explicable on the supposition we heard thrown out by a spectator , namely , that the piece was a wearisome five act German play reduced to the compass of two acts with all the languor retained . Of the story we can absolutely give you no account , for it failed to write itself on our attention . Anderson was picturesquely dressed as an escaped galley-slave , and brought down by his energy the tew bursts of applause which checquered at rare intervals the silence ; but his delivery was too monotonous , and lengthened the lengthy
piece . Vandenhoff played a feeble part like an experienced actor ; he had no chance of an effect , but he saved the part from being insupportable . Miss Vandenhoff spoils her acting by over acting . She writes all her sentences in italics . Where the author has placed a " white muslin " she places a tragic heroine . To dissipate the impression left by " The Passing Cloud" we resolved to delight our eyes with the splendour of " The Devil ' s Ring , " and to delight our ears with the noble voice of Miss F . Huddart . A second hearing only deepened our admiration for this Easter piece , and the enthusiasm of the audience ( people flocked in at second price ) was genuine . Have you heard Miss Huddart r If you have not , go at once . Such a voice is worth your going ten miles to hear . with at her want of ssion the
You will grumble perhaps us pa , energy , or even conventional semblance thereof ; but the deep full mellow tones of that contralto , sustaining the concerted pieces like an organ , and producing by single notes something of the effect produced by Lablache when he joins in a quartette , will thrill through every musical nerve . It is a voice " full of the warm South , " and with all its power never loses its contralto tone , never falls into tlie coarseness which often ruins voices of that calibre . If that sleepy indolent manner could be got rid of and replaced by a little musical passion , Miss Huddart would make a furore . Meanwhile such voices are sufficiently rare to make it worth anyone ' s trouble to go and hear them .
St . James's . —The season of French comedy has opened brilliantly . Already ¦ we have had Scribe ' admirable ?• Bertrand et Raton , " known to the English public as " The Minister and the Mercer , " but Samson playing in his finished style the part played by Farren , —and Delavigne's « ' Ecole des vieillards . " On Wednesday Mr . Bunn took his benefit . As there are no novelties to chronicle this week were shall reserve our remarks on M . Samson till a more fitting
. The Strand . —A dramatic anecdote , " Poor Cousin Walter , " neatly written , and charmingly performed by Mrs . Stirling and Mr . Leigh Murray , has been the only novelty . " The Vicar of Wakefield " continues its success . The most interesting news of the dramatic world is that Charles Kean has taken the Princess ' Theatre for two years , with tlie intention of trying what can be done by a good company performing new plays . If any dramatic speculation looks feasible that surely does . " Revivals" are of all experiments the most costly and most hazardous ; they may make an effective variety , but no theatre can hope to prosper on them . Novelties at any rate excite curiosity . Twenty now plays may be produced before a ' hit' is inade ; but that one hit will amply repay all that its predecessor cost . Charles Kcan has already in his possession plays by Bulwer , Jerrold , andLovell : not a bud busis to build on .
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COSTUME . The Admiralty propose to improve the uniform of the Navy with the view of reducing its cost to the junior officers ; so says the United Service Gazette . " It is said that epaulettes are to be altogether abolished ; and it is a question whether the antiqu ted cocked hat will be retained for use on ship-board . " It is to be hoped that in rendering the uniform less costly , the Admiralty Will not render it less picturesque . It would be quite possible to combine cheapness and artistic propriety . Indeed , some of the most picturesque and characteristic costumes , especially those of a national kind , are also among the cheapest . Our social habit of attaching respectability to costliness has done more than anything to destroy character or beauty in costume . Every class aims to avoid as much as possible the appearance of poverty . The varied garb therefore of
different trades and professions , which lends an agreeable variety to the aspect of a people , is annulled ; and every man , if not every woman , strives to fit himself into a respectable average . " The tailor makes the man : " he more often unmakes him . Our dress may be respectable ; but it is very ugly : it is the victim of a perpetual contest between the tendency of the customer to a respectable average , and the tendency of the tailor to satisfy demands with as little cloth as possible . We lose much by this level uniformity * We have heard a living philosopher say that the motive which prompts individual study of dress is the instinctive desire to typify in the outward aspect the inward nature ; man gratifies his own sense of individuality by making others recognize it . Our average uniformity tends to nullify this piquant variety of character ; it deprives us of a guide in our intercourse with our fellow-countrymen . ,. « .,,, . i * v v . In many cases it deprives classes and individuals of a certain moral influence which accompanies an appropriate aspect ; a quality well enough known to those who are practised in theatrical affairs . What would a hero be in an uncouth garb , or an interesting lover in a dowdy one ? So it is in real life : the aspect is an auxiliary to the moral effect of character : but it is annulled by our average uniform .
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THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES . We should be very sorry to rob Rhetoric of a jewel—to tear away from the hands of authors and orators a stereotyped illustration which serves equally to justify their classical attainments and their wide-sweeping fancy—but the fact is , the sword of Damocles is not a proper illustration of suspended terror : the very monotony of suspense would soon have cured Damocles of his terror . By a law of the human mind we accommodate ourselves to any situation , and familiarity with danger breeds contempt of it . The first day Damocles was probably uneasy j finding , however , that he
went to sleep without being disturbed by its fall , he soon grew accustomed to his situation , and ceased to believe that it ever would Jail . We have all of us such a sword suspended over our heads—or , to be classical , let us say , not a sword , but a pair of scissors , which the pale , thin hands of Atropos skilfully employ—do we , however trouble ourselves about it ? Because we must die one day , and may die tomorrow , do we tremble ? Because Damocles saw the sword was very ill-Bupported , and might fall upon him at any minute , would he not soon have ceased to tremble when he found it did not fall ?
INTElU > ilETATTONS . Peovlk are fond of drawing morals from stories , and , according to Hegel , every story has its moral dependent upon the interpreter . Many are the strange interpretations which sagacity has read , but none perhapB ever exceeded in audacious ingenuity the interpretation of a celebrated story in Scripture , given by Dr . Nolan , a Dissenting minister , as it appeared on his trial , of amorous complexion and Jesuitical subtlety . ¦ Wishing to clothe his desires with a sanction of religion , he opposed the woman ' s scruples by referring to David and to our Saviour , who commended the woman taken in adultery . " " Co . mmended" is exquisite !
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SCIIAI'S OP THOUGHT . X . Some have the folly to be ridiculous ; some have the vanity to be ridiculous ; some huve the impudence to be ridiculous ; very few have the courage to be ridiculous , XI . A man may be great who satisfies a deep popular want ; l ' nr yiruti-T is hv whu creates such a want . XII . In youth we are transparent as glass , but as brittle ; as we udynnco in life w < gain in toughness , but lose in transparency . We should rather , however , bf » like tin malleable glass which has lately been discovered , thoroughly transparent withtcnactt ; in the same degree .
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THE LYRIC DRAMA . At the Royal Italian Opera , on Tuesday evening , " Lucrezia ^ Borgia" introduced Madamo Grisi and Signori Mario and Tamburini for " he first time
this season . It is atrange , after remembering that Grisi has now been seventeen years before the public , to say that she ia as good as ever—but really we cannot qualify the expression . Her performance pf Lucrezw is noble in the extreme . Mario was suffering from a severe cold , and was compelled to omit some of his music : but he managed to let us understand that he is still the Mario of first-rate fame . Mademoiselle de Meric was also ill—too ill to appear at all—and her place was supplied by a very incompetent ladyr-a Mademoiselle d'Okolski—who , now the first time for some seasons , sang the popular brmdisi , " II segreto par esser felice , " without receiving an encore . Tamburini sang as we are accustomed , in these latter days , to hear him sing—well—but not so well
as formerly . He was welcomed very warmly . " Norma" was given on Thursday , when Tamberlik jnade his appearance for the first time in the notoriously ungrateful par £ of Pollip . He has quite recovered from the indisposition which marred his first appeal to the British public as MasanieZlo . Tone has come back to his voice , and increased confidence has made both his singing and acting much more telling . Formes was the Oroveso , and gave a picturesque version of this usually cold and stern character , which struck upon the audience as a novelty , His voice is magnificent ,. and he makes a truly artistic use of it . Mademoiselle Vera ' s Adalgisa was very pleasingeven with our recollection of the charming Corbari in the part .
The revival of such well-worn and mediocre works as Lucrezia Borgia and Norma is by no means to be desired at this theatre ; since we cannot forget that it has hitherto been a fault chargeable ori the management to produce the greatest operas so late in the season that sufficient time is not allowed for their due appreciation . We believe , too , that the public would willingly allow such weak operas as the two we have mentioned to slumber for a time in peace ; seeing , as we do , how much has been done at this establishment in directing the taste towards better things . Little need be said of '•« Don Giovanni" at her Majesty's Theatre on Thursday , as the cast was just about the same as that of last season . Signpr Coletti made his first appearance this season as Don Giovanni . His view of the character is somewhat deficient in the insinuating quality which we may imagine such an
unfailing hero to possess—but it is bold and reckless and effective . It is scarcely necessary to say that "La ci darem , " that •* Batti , batti , " that " II mio tesoro , " were encored . We mention the fact only to protest against the whole snobbish system of encoring . The musical pieces of " Don Giovanni " are not ballads ( price two shillings ) written for the music-sellers : they aie pieces of dramatic action in which there is not only beautiful music , but in which the story of the opera is carried forward . To encore these , and to have the whole series of emotions acted over again , is to expose the wires of the puppets with a vengeance ! Now that our bile is disturbed we must also protest against the introduction of a divertissement between the acts of such an opera as " Don Giovanni . " The capital dancing of Mademoiselle I " , errari could not reconcile us to the barbarism .
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Apbii * i 3 , 1850 . ] ® ft ? itraJr ^ tt ^ :
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Leader (1850-1860), April 13, 1850, page 69, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1840/page/21/
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