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" l ? ftch of the "two lovers has a semi-confidant ; in'the case of Sapieha , an «»« inir drunken old Dutch admiral , named ViUerbeck ( Monrose ) , and in the S of the Czarine , Menzikoff , Prime Minister of the Empire , who had Jfcrmerlv taken Catherine prisoner at the siege of Manenburg . Although himself - *« ir . k bv the charms of his captive , being more of a courtier than a gallant , he ™ ve her up to the Czar , but continued on friendly terms with her , and is repre-Mnted in the play as , partly from compassion and' old sentiment , partly from , v , £ r * wtted motives , endeavouring to excite his imperial mistress to conspiracy t ^ aSh er husband . The lady , however , acting according to a code familiar tX Parisian wives , whilst having no objection whatever to push her intrigue ^ ifl , Wefta to the utmost limits , is at first shocked at the idea of treaso n , or Jven of disobedience in the smallest particular . " If , " says Menzikoff , endea-VcMTma to provoke her , " the Czar sends for you to Ladoga at this time , tis Sathe wants to kill you . "— "Je le crois , " replies Mdlle . Rachel , with superb house to admireresounds with laus
resignation ; and the , ready , app e . The real interest of the piece—which is made interesting , despite its trivial diction and repulsive incidents , by the genius of Mdlle . Rachel and the ability of her supporters—turns on the struggle between this bourgeois idea of matrimonial fidelity ( swaying the Empress to the alcove exclusively ) and the more natural development of female passion . We are not allowed to doubt , after the first act , that the Czarine gives herself up -wholly to Sapieha . She has a fortnieht of intense—we were going to say pure—happiness , because we are speakofan unreal world . But the terrible C zar returns full of fury and suspicion . He talks of nothing Jbut blood and vengeance , yet does not know how and by whom he has been injured . The drunken admiral , by a contrivance common to M Scribe , whose philosophy of history consists in always finding small causes for great effects , is made the accidental instrument of disturbing the loves of the Czarine and Sapieha , and of putting Peter on the right scent . After a drunken bout he wanders through the snow , and , coming to the door of the Empress ' s pavilion , is admitted by mistake , but immediately expelled with violence . The way in which he tells this story suggests the truth , and let enlihtendbut
the Czar is on the point , in the second act , of being compely g e , for the existence of a pleasing heroine of the second order , charmingly played by Mdlle . Fix . Olga , the daughter of Menzikoff , is the favourite lady-in-waiting of the Empress , and has an apartment in her pavilion . When , therefore , i 1 comes out that Admiral ViUerbeck was mistaken for Sapieha , the latter is obliged to pretend a passionate attachment for this same Olga . " Let them be married , says the Czar at once , still half doubting . The marriage takes place ; but Catherine exacts conditions very hard to be complied with , especially as Sapieha , making a morning visit to his bride , discovers that he has long been loved by her . The situation becomes more and more delicate , and some of the most disagreeable conflicts of sentiment which French dramatists are fond of exhibiting succeed . The young bride , rather surprised , and probably somewhat annoyed at the neglect of her husband , presumes to play the part of a listener , and overhears a dialogue between Sapieha and the Czarine which more than satisfies her curiosity . She resolves to escape from her unprofitable chains as soon as possible , but remains quite devoted to her mistress , and absolutely kisses her hand after learning that she is her rival . The gallery and the pit applaud .
We cannot , however * notice every detail of this intricate plot . The CW at length becomes convinced of his disgrace , and seeks an explanation with his wife , who tells , with wonderful effect , because Mdlle . Rachel gives life to a very fcald phraseology , a long story of how in former years , when- the Czar was in difficulties on the banks of the Pruth , she had been allowed to give a smile and " something more" to a Turkish general to get him off . This " something more" is admitted in a startling peut-etre which excites the enthusiasm of the audience by the extravagance of its audacity . The C zarine gains her point , and turns away suspicion for a time from herself and her lover , but only for a time . She is at length arrested , and condemned to execution . —The plot becomes more complicated . Menzikoff seeing at length that it is necessary to put a stop to the mad career of the Czar who has drawn up a formidable list of great people for execution , endeavours to excite the Czarine to conspiracy . He tells her that she is to be put out of the way by poison . " He lias the right , for I am guilty , replies the Czarine . Then she learns that Sapieha is condemned to death , and deterinines to save him or to die , but still refuses to listen to the treasonable suggestions " ^ O / ei « 7 A ^ "tK 3 erlraiid ~ 6 'fthe ~ piece . "' " ~ ~ ~ ¦¦ -.- — * -
, But Sapieha has returned to St . Petersburg to see his wife , to whom he has now transferred his affections . He is again arrested , and the Czarine hears the terrible fact from the Czar himself . The scene , though most trivially writte n , is of thrilling effect on the stage . Sapieha is supposed to be led to execution under the windows of the palace . She commands her emotions , having a S oignard ready to stab herself as soon as the fatal blow is struck . The Czar escribes the progress of the terrible" procession , and wonders at her insensibility . She twice answers him" Eh bien" with splendid affectation of indifference . The Czar is completely deceived , and stops the execution . He asks pardon of Catherine ,
saying : " Now I know you did not love him . As for him , I knew it alreadyhe loves another . " This throws her quite off her guard . She is supplanted in Sapieha ' s heart by Olga . Her indignation bursts forth . She betrays herself in her jealous fury , and the Czar condemns her to death—her , and we believe everybody else * But meanwhile Menzihoff has " drugged his pos * et , " and death comes on with fearful and convenient rapidity . The friends of the Czarine proclaim her Empress , and she has both leisure and power for love or vengeance . She indulges in neither—has a fine movement of forgiveness—sends Sapieha to Warsaw as her ambassador , allowing him to take his wife with him . " Go , " she says , " without regret , without remorse , if you can , To him happiness—to me empire . —Allons ... r < fgnons / " , atid admit
All this is , of course , very effective , if we believe in the manners the philosophy of M . Scribe . The cast of the piece is excellent . Geffroy plays the part of Menzikoff-with great care and finish . Delaunay , though he dresses too much in the Opera Comique stylo , makes a very elegant and interesting Sapieha , Monrose is admirable for dry humour . in the sober scenes of the Admiral ; but his drunken confession to the Czar is not well marked . Maud ant , one of the most useful men of the- company , is entrusted with a character of which wo have not found it necessary to speak—a stiff , welldisciplined Russian head of the police , a great favourite with his master because he always answers " Yes , Sire , " to everything . Beau vallet ' s part , as written by M . Scribe , is both extravagant and wearisome—full of clumsy allusions to
present politics . He has a sleeping scene , in which he talks indistinctly of " Constantinople , " and is almostcomic . However , what with his tragic voice and his great experience , he manages to lug on this ungrateful part , and to produce considerable effect here and there . We have already hinted how well Mdlle . Fix—who has , indeed , but to show her face to excite applause— -performs her duty . As for Mdlle . Rachel , all we shall say is that she creates a character almost without the assistance of a part . Her representation of the impassioned woman , struggling ^ rith'duty , but yielding to love , defending her happiness with more energy than she defends her life , 'hoping , fearing , submissive , jealous , irate , and despairing by turns , we would call perfect , if in " this naughty world of ours" perfection and insipidity were not near neighbours . e
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BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS . BIRTHS . BAILLIB . —Fob . 14 , at 9 , Queen Ann-street , Cavondishsquaro , the wife of Cant . 1 . Baillio : a daughter . " DaSHWOOD . —Ootobor 28 , at Nelson , the wifo of Edwin Daslivvood , Esq ., of Moutoro House , Nelson , Now Zealand ; a son . LOFTUS .- —Feb . 15 , at Berlin , the lady of Lord Augustus Loftui , Secretary to H . M . Legation at Berlin : a daughtor . PIXXHY . —Fob . 13 , at 34 , Klldaro-torraco , Wostbourno-pork , the wifo of T , "W . Pixloy , Esq . ; a daughtor ,
MARRIAGES . BOWYER—SANDBY . —Feb . 20 , at St . George ' s , Hanoversquaro , Honry George Bowyer , Esq ., youngoBtson of Sir George Bowyor , Bart ., of Itadley , Berks , to Kathorlno Emma only child of the lfcov . George Sauby , vicar of FHxton , Suffolk : JERVOI 8 E — CHURCHILL . — Feb . 20 , at Funtington Church , Sussex , Jorvoiuo Clarke Jorvoiso , Esq ., Captain Twenty-third R . W . Fusiliers , eldest son of Sir Jorvolse Clarke Jorvoiso , Bart ., of Idsworth , Hants , to Sophia Horatia Churchill , sixth daughter of Honry Lawcs Long ,
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THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION . There is a variety , of character no less than of subject , in the exhibition of photographs , which we hardly expected to find there . Indeed , it might almost be supposed that the excellent Society of Water-Colour Painters , in whose gallery the Photographs are shown , had been " keeping up its reputation , " by general agreement of its members , through the sole medium of Vandyk brown . When we say that these five or six hundred sun-pictures vary among themselves in character , we do not mean to imply a mere inequality of skill among the exhibitors in dealing with the thousand niceties of their delicately-capricious art ; such variety as this would not have been remarkable . What-we mean is that , just as one may readily trace the individualities of Gilbert , Haao , Duncan , Tayler , David Cox , and the rest of the popular water-colour paintersso may you at once discern the bold , steady hand of Sherlock ; the
, singular breadth , force , and richness of Cundall ; the brilliancy cf Hennah ; and the familiar grace of Roger Fenton , whose love of nature is as poetically and truthfully manifest in the charming little bit of natural history , " Common Quail ( Coturnix Communis ) , England , " as in the grand studies from Rivaulx Abbey , the views at Spithead on the departure of the Baltic Fleet , the genial pictures of English homesteads , and the English landscape scenery of a more romantic character . Fenton ' s place in photography is that of Wixuam Hunt in water-colour painting ; and next to Fenton , as a true artist , we do not hesitate in naming Hugh Owen . Mr . Spencer ( the photographer , we believe , of the Panopticon ) may be particularised for a very careful and judicious method , and for the adherence to one effective tone . The most showy of the iincoloured photographs are the Parisian scenes by Bisson Freres ; and the best of the tinted and slightly " touched" works are by Mr . S . R . Lock . This gentleman also exhibits a frame of untouched miniature portraits , very neat and pictorial
in their arrangement . - . , The portraits by Mr . Mayali are so prominently placed that it would be difficult to avoid noticing them ; but we regret our inability to do so in a way that will satisfy the pretensions of an exhibitor who parades printed testimonials of his merit and skill . The eminently clear and sharp outline of Mr . Matall ' s portraits appears to have captivated some persons . Our own impression , at a first glance , was that the heads and figures were cut out and fastened on a " fancy" background . We were wrong , as a very slight inspection assured us . Perhaps our second guess was nearer the mark . It seems to our inexperienced eye that the background in the " negative" of these portraits has been invariably " blacked out , " so that in the " positive" impression there is no background at all , but the object stands against plain white paper ; and that this is afterwards filled in , •' " according to taste ;"—such taste , we imagine , as would accept West's "Characters and Scenes" especially when coloured , as works of art .
, We would impress on our readers that the Photograpliic Exhibition is worth a visit if only for the reason which has led us there a second time , and which is identical with our opening remark , that the pictures are various in their character , thus showing that Photography is not the mere mechanical work that might be supposed , but that , while it confirms the best works of pictorial art , it is itself an art , capable of being judged by the same standard .
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TIEWS OF SEBASTOPOL . One of the best , perhaps quite the best , of the many attempts to impart a distinct conception-of the positions of the Allies-in-the -Chersonese , is . the _ model exhibited by Mr . Wyld , at the Great Globe , in Leicester-square . There , in miniature , the spectator may familiarise himself with Balaklava , Kadikoi , Kamara , the terrible country leading up to the camp , the ground over which the Light Cavalry so gallantly but fatally flew , the ridge leading to Inkerraan , the scene of the battle , and the whole country between the great harbour of Sebastopol and the sea . The rugged ravines which intersect the lines of the besiegers , those remarkable lines themselves , and beyond them the defences of Sebastopol , all modelled after drawings taken on the spot , are spread out before him . It is another merit of this model that it shows the great road to Simpheropol ; which sweeps up the heights and passes by Mackenzie ' s Farm , Certainly any one who wishes to " know the country" should go to the Great Globe for assistance . Another praiseworthy and portable attempt is " Stanford ' s Bird ' s-eye view of the Seat of War in the Crimea . " This is a remarkably well-coloured and shaded map ; and while , with much accuracy , it portrays the country and " the lines , " it , nt the same time , is an elegant picture .
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GALLERY OF ILLUSTRATION . The recently added pictures of " Inkerman , " " Balaklava , " and the " Great Storm in the Euxine" have materially strengthened the interest of the War Diorama at the Gallery of Illustration ; while , by judicious compression at the opening part , the entertainment is varied aud enriched , without being spread over more room than it has hitherto occupied . Wo have still to objoct that the fighting business , though quite up to the spirit of the old stage direction for making the scone " as bloody as may be , " is needlessly violent , and at the same time deficient in force . But the pictorial merit in other respects is undeniable . The storm scene conveys a pretty tangible idea of the awful reality . It is in painting objects of external nature that Messrs . Giueve and Telbin areexcelient Sir Henry Bisnophas been engaged by Mr . Mitchkix to give a abort series of Afternoon Vocal Concerts , selected from his own compositions . Ilio first Concert will take place at the Hanover-square Rooms , March 6 th .
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Esq ., of Hampton Lodge , Surrey , and the Lady Cathwiao Lontf ' DEATHS . COLBORNK— Feb . 17 , at 19 , Ilill-fitrcot , Borkoloy-squaro , DARN Aa-FXl ^? Grea ^ tiand-8 trcct , Mn , Dam-H ® A ^ r «;™ SS ? r 3 S ^ 1 , Norfolk , Joseph Humo , JA Ollsol ? iFoSriC kilSSd by accident , whilst voluntarily asaistiiiff to extinguish the fire in Holland-stroeV Blackfriars , Mr . Thomas Parkor Jaokaon , agedtwonty-uvo .
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F ebruary 24 , 1855 ] THE LEADER , 189
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 24, 1855, page 189, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2079/page/21/
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