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mg this panoramic view of many firesides . It is not a story she has given us ; but a series of sketches , most of them evidently from the life . And interspersed are various conversations and reflections which betray a long experience , and a cultivated mind . In this agreeable book the reader will not meet with much that is new , but with much that is very nicely written , so much so as to be " good as new . " For example , the idea of , the following is old enough , but how
charmingly it is stated : — " Life has its lessons adapted for all ages , and nature has her sweet solaciners for the severity of those lessons . Gently , therefore , and gradually does she lead the young through the sorrowful maze of their own mistakes , showing to them , as they are strong enough to bear it , where and how they erred , and , if they are disposed to profit by the retrospect , making them the humbler and the better for their past follies . " Here is a remark the truth of which comes home to all our experience .
THE POWER OF SILENCE . " You have always a hope of ameliorating , of persuading , or of doing , at least , something with the adversary who talks , even though , he talks with fury ; but he who opposes you with silence , makes use of a weapon which baffles you at every corner . You cannot tell what it is made of , nor where it will wound , nor whether it is intended to wound at all . " And this : — MANAGING WOMEN . " Sad it is , that almost all clever , active , managing women , fit to govern the universe on the side of economy and neatness , and turning household matters to the best account , are so apt to be irascible and hasty in respect to their temper . "
One might suppose this irascibility of managing women ( apart from physiological reasons ) arose out of the constant opposition which must meet them when insisting upon doing what we are not accustomed to see them do ; the imperious nature which makes them take command into their absolute hands , and which in men would be silently accepted , rouses unnecessary opposition on account of their sex . Whatever the reason , there is no disputing the fact . The aspects of life sketched in these pages are— " A Family Fireside , " "A Widower ' s Fireside , " " Wedded Life , " " Life in Sickness / ' " Life without a Fireside , " "A Fireside in the Country , " " . Single Blessedness , " with many incidental sketches of religion . And on the subject of Religion we must quote a little anecdote here recorded : —
" When Popery was prevalent in England , an old priest who was in the habit of saying ' mumpsimus / instead of' sumpsimus / in his Latin prayers , being reminded of his error , refused to rectify it ; alleging as a reason , that c he hated all newfangled ways / " Is not that like the Scotch Professor who for years refused to admit Davy ' s discovery of the metallic basis of soda and potash , and when forced at length to adopt it , declared it was the " discovery of one Davya yerra troublesome fellow in chemistry !"
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THE OPERA . The Opera opened on Saturday , but without any of the glad enthusiasm of first nights , without the success which promises a season of success ! I am not sorry for this ; it will put , let me hope , the directors on their mettle , and make them look to the real mean ' s of success . The opera was Masaniello , and never do I remember to have seen it more unsatisfactorily performed . To begin with orchestra and chorus : the one was noisy , the other unsteady . I know it is heresy to say a word against Costa , who certainly has a command over his orchestra which no other conductor can boast ; but it is one thing to have absolute control , another thing to know what to do with your instruments . Wow , Costa has , in my eyes , two enormous faults to set against his undeniable excellencies , —tho faults , namely , of vulgarising movements by taking them , too fast , and of 8 acrificing the singers to the orchestra , the music to its accompaniment .
On Saturday these faults were painfully predominant . Tamberlik , though always unapproachable , was not our Tamborlik . Ho had not recovered from tho fatigues of his journey , and ho ought not to have appeared . Formes sang through a speaking trumpet , as usual ; but a British pit likes enorgy , and Formes is a favourite in apito of his faults . Madame Castellan , looking ovon prettier than ever , wan what she always is—charming to ono class , and perfectly insipid to another ( I belong to the second class ) , tho admirers , however , predominating , ltonnni , the " useful Homrai , " with unc tres belle voix de venire , played liorella ; and Soldi grated on our ears to his own entire satisfaction . On Thursday , tho ever young and ever charming Barber of Seville was produced , without Mario . I could not bo there , because the now comedy claimed me ; but Le Chat Huant flow screeching to my assistance , and what ho says or sings shall hero bo given in a long parenthesis . * *
( I havo little to say about tho now light tonor who challenged our recollections of Mario . Signor Luchesi may bo described as a respectable representative of a largo family of small tenors , who arc to bo mot with at obscure provincial theatres in Italy ; who havo worn out tho thin reed of a voice on which thoy may have oneo piped , and whoso method of vocalization'has declined into a volubility ( more or Ions ingenious ) of shrill , smajl barks , which you can neither attribute to tho head nor to tin ; chest of the singer , but partly to the tooth , and partly to tho whiskorH . Tho learned may call tho st y le " Itossinian" oaso , and legitimate Italian fluency , to distinguish it from the moro savage- howling of tho modern school of robust tenors whom Verdi has created ; but lot mo bo pormitted to doubt whothor Kossini over . contemplated such an execution of tho divine music ho has attributed to Almaviva , as wo wore invited to applaud on Thursday evening .
It is impossible to rob such an air as " Ecco ridonto il Cielo" of its delicious grace and alluring charm , especially when tho accompaniments are played with delicacy and precision ; Signor Luchesi did moro towards
achieving that impossibility than you would suppose . And so throughout the opera , except that in the concerted pieces , where his voice was less distinguishable , he appeared to more advantage , and took his part with the ease and certainty of experience and cultivation . He acted the Count inoffensively , if not pleasantly ; but he lacked the refinement and the distinction—in a word , the high-bred air of Almaviva . Now , were Covent Garden an Opera House of inferior pretensions , I should never have judged Signor Luchesi by so high a standard ; but at the JRoyal Italian Opera , now the Opera , we have a right to demand only the best and freshest singers , and the most accomplished actors in parts consecrated to our memories by the most glorious traditions . We do not put up with
" queer" upper notes , or " wear and tear , " or " voices originally good . " We go to hear the best singers that Europe can boast , in the glory and prime of their career . Madame Bosio was the coldest , and most uninteresting , and impossible Rosina I ever beheld ; not a glimpse of Hosina , I should say , from first to last ; but a cold and well-trained prirna donna , with a piercing soprano cleaving the air like a rocket , and resolutely cutting through all difficulties with a force and facility that extort applause , and leave the ear and heart unsatisfied . Here , again , was a rude disturbance of our fond memories of past JBosinas . Formes was Basilio , and he evidently revelled in the priestly cowl with malicious relish and rare unction . His make up was perfect ; the oily Tartufian simper , the appetizing
jaw , the gloating chin , the sly rolling eye , the snaky gesture , and shambling walk , the twiddling of the fat red fingers , and the folding of the beefy hands , with no sign of wristbands to relieve the dull black sleeves ; all was studied con amove , and with that completeness which marks the true artist . The Basilio of Formes is , therefore , worth going to see , and it need not be said that he sings his noble music in a very superior style . There are fewer opportunities for bellowing than he usually finds , and fewer chances of bawling and gesticulating down everybody else upon . the stage , so that Formes , by this very necessity of " keeping" and Tepose , enables us to admire his fine qualities , without resenting his exorbitant pretensions . Singular enough , however , he did not produce all
the effect in "La Cahimnia , " of which that immortal gem of musical painting is susceptible . I don't know why ; perhaps he may yet make it his own . It may be that he sinned , as he commonly does , by an excess of effort , which always repels success . Tagliafico was really a very good and sufficient Bartolo . I confess I don't regret the venerable gag of Lablache , which has been immemorially accepted as humour . Tagliafico is the Bartolo Beaumarchais drew , and the effect produced is eminentl y satisfactory ; it is a bit of acting unobtrusive , quiet , genuine , finished , without affectation , and without flaw , and sung with admirable correctness , certainly , and comfort . I say , comfort , to express the pleasant sense communicated to an audience by a singer who is sure of himself .
Madlle . Cotti was a very pleasant little Bertha ; but what shall I say of him for whom I have reserved the last , not the least , place in this tirade ? What shall I say of Ronconi , the Jpigarissimo of Figaros ? I can give him no higher praise than in saying , that he was never more himself . In perfect voice and spirits : overflowing with mirth , and mischief , and practical jokes , and subtle quirks ; convulsing audience and actors too : driving Costa to despair with sallies of fun that bent the dignity of the chef d ' orc / iestre double with suppressed laughter ;—in a word , it was Honconi , in the highest preservation , come back once more
from St . Petersburg , laden with imperial trophies . How great an actor is Eoncotti ! How different from the flaccid buffoonery of the vulgar " comic business" are his wildest antics , that sot the house in a roar . Mark . the strength , the subtlety , the mordant of that mask of his ; you could swear that behind that almost fierce smile there lurked the tragic possibilities of the " hate of hate , the scorn of scorn . " It is pleasant to see lionconi so heartily , so enthusiastically welcomed , now that he has taken his right position in England . It is to be hopod he will appear in some of his greatest parts this season . He is capable of making tho fortune of a theatre alone , and London does not yet know half his
powers . The orchestra was , on the whole , almost as remarkable on this occasion for delicacy , as for force , and precision ; and the chorus , except , perhaps , in one passage , reminded me of those great days of tho lioyal Italian Opera in tho first campaigns of the two Houses , which for too many reasons , I fear , we can only now recal by way of contrast . I did not stop for the ballot ; and from what I hear , 1 havo no need to apologize for that want of conscientiousness . 1 had seen La Mile Mai GartUe at a provincial theatre in France some ten yearn ago ; and was not tempted to renew tho experiment by tho celebrities ! announced in tho bill . But I may ho allowed to congratulate my severer confreres in tho critical world on having diBeovered tho occasion ( too seldom occurring ) of a safe expenditure of wit upon a certain M . Petit , who turned out to bo anything but p etit ia dimensions . That , I . believe , is the whole joke . 1 don ' t ondorso it .
Let me not , as a loyal subject , omit to add , that the National Anthem was sung after tho opera by Formes and Castellan , in honour of tho "happy event . " I am persuaded that foreigners who happened to hoar tho national air only last Saturday , will not iiiil to noto in their next published " Impressions" of our manners and customs , that " God Save the ( Juoon" ia sung aver // night at tho Jloyul Opera—all tho audience standing up to join in clioniH I *¦>• I !"" -II '" U 4 T ) Thus Itoototh my adjutant owl , over ready , ever pleased to do a good action . Now Jet U 3 turn to the
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F R E N C II V 1 . AYH . There is so much amour proprc minglod with amour , that in this strange fyoisma a deux , named Love , every ono finds it loan painful to givo up than , to bo given up . Horace has outgrown his liking for Jttliiu and thinks ho really must break off ; lio pities her , poor tiring ! she will be terribly cut up , &hoMe ; infinite compassion troubles lum , and ho devoutly wishes aho didn't love him . He hesitates inflicting this pain .: if she would only cant her eyes on some other amiable Bcopograco , what a , relief it would be ! Sho does no . A rival is already in poBBosmon . Horaco
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Apftit 9 , 1853 . JJ THE LEADEB . 357
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Leader (1850-1860), April 9, 1853, page 357, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1981/page/21/
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