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    ¦ iNiiAHY 1, 1853.] THE LEADER. Si

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    BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. 'nshire. A Pastoral....

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    Gjjt lrt0.

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    FAIRY-LAND AT THE LYCEUM, sveek you were...

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    ¦¦ > A WEKK OF RO KINO-NIGHTS. As it was...

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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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    Children's Books. In Spite Of The Demand...

    ¦>¦ the above works we must add a couple of tiny volumes , one contain - iladdin and Sinbad the Sailor , the other containing five stories from _Arabian Nights—viz ., The Fisherman and the Genie , the Zing and > hysician , the Punished Vizir , the King of the Black Isles , and the _jer Awakened . Two acceptable little reprints , which Messrs . Addey published by way of introduction of the infant mind to the great 1 of wealth and wonder , named The Thousand and One Nights ' rtainments .

    ¦ Iniiahy 1, 1853.] The Leader. Si

    ¦ _iNiiAHY 1 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . Si

    Books On Our Table. 'Nshire. A Pastoral....

    BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . ' _nshire . A Pastoral . By January Searle . Parry and Co . jeb little brochure from January Searle , like all his writings , full of buoyancy fe , and that wild " play-impulse , " as Schiller names it , inherent in the poetic . . Every page hearty , fresh , and genial . To read this pastoral is to spend jr of " summer jollitie" amid November dulness , and to have your mind disl of the belief that this said Lincolnshire is irreclaimably given up to and ted by , the dismal , dreary , drizzling featured genius of November throughout hole round of the equinoxes . A brighter character , however , the poets give id science has striven arduously , and not vainly , to redeem its reputation . tis , for the purposes of art , pictures a Chesney Wold as the perpetual type of iai dreariness , bleaker far than Bleak House itself ; but , on the other hand , we _filler ' s sweet "Day in the Woods ; " and we are not forgetful of Tennyson's picture of Burleigh Hall , which may fairly vie with Chesney Wold as the r ' s representative . uary Searle ' s " Pastoral" preserves throughout the true characteristics of a il , and is no more than it pretends to be , " a running stream through a fine y , singing , as it goes , the praises of its scenery , and of the happy lif « which a natured man may lead and find there . To sympathizing readers , this will be ling ; to unsympathizing readers , nothing . As they please . "

    Gjjt Lrt0.

    _Gjjt lrt 0 .

    Fairy-Land At The Lyceum, Sveek You Were...

    FAIRY-LAND AT THE LYCEUM _, _sveek you were informed , in brief and somewhat enigmatical manner , deep seclusion "in the still air of deli ghtful studies ; " I was alone my folios—companioned by The Fathers ! Those mysterious eha-3 , of which Fanny complains , were meant to tell you that . Basil was ng to me in somewhat inelegant Greek of the advantages to be d from the study of Greek writers—if I have not gained all the a there awaiting me , I am willing to suppose the fault was -mine : is I did not come " prepared with the due humility of spirit , " and ivity of intellect ! Whatever the cause may be , certain it is that Fanny , with the dovelike eyes , declared I must take her to the M to see the Christmas piece , I quitted my folios with immense y ! ist borrow hyperboles to express something of the admiring delight hich we witnessed the Good Woman in the Wood ; ordinary epilave so lost their value by the prodigal use made of them in crithat to speak within bounds would be speaking coldly and inaccuthe Greeks would have boldly spoken of the jlabbcrgastuality of ; ce , hut our poorer language is denied those reaches of genius ! fCEUM itself affords no standard of comparison . Never on any as there a scene of such enchantment and artistic beauty aa that _concludes the lirst act of this piece , the Basaltic Terminus on the of Lake Lucid . To say that in the long summer afternoons of peopled boyhood one had dreamed of fairy-land like this , would iy that the wide-wandering fancy of a boy was equal to that of a r ; but Beverly is the fairy ' s own child ; he must be a changeis childhood was spent among those regions , and now , in his serious _lorious manhood , tho dim remembrances of that far-off splendour lis soul . The pansy at his feet Doth the same tale repeat : Whither is tied the visionary gleam ? Whero is it now . the cdorv anel the elream ?

    is it P In his artist soul ! and over and ever does that soul strive into it to tho eye . There _li (; _s the mystery of that palo delicate 'Trailing clouds of glory , " he moves amongst us , environed by , because he cannot Forget the glories he hath known , Ami that imperial palae : o whence he ; camo ! d , thoughtful , pale , delicate , because of Those shadowy recollections Which , be they what they may , Are yet tho fountain-light of all his day , Are ; yet a master-light of all bis _seeing . ies have had millions of worshippers , hundre ;< _ln eif poets ? , and one artist , and that artist is William Beverly ! In this Good in the Wood there are several beautiful scenes , and the lastscene _i a Lyceum marvel---is as marvellous as anything which former ye shown us ; but , to my mind , the highest , reach of scenic art , i . s ing scene of the lirst ae ; i . _ioe ; _e ; itself is better than usual , everywhere agreeable , often funny a fairy-like , with some capital writing—neat , easy , punning , anel natie ; several excellent songs and concerted pieces ; mi _exejuiimped balled ; , with Rosina Wright , the first , of _English dancers , onid tho groups in her bright , graceful witchery ; costumes of istc and varied splendour , and , as 1 hinted before , a general jlabtliy , not expressible in moderate English . 1 laughed , 1 up-I shouted inordinate " Ohs ! " of breath-suspending admiration ; caned myself , generally , like a boy at his first play , instead of lid critic , " used up" by Boeing ho many pieces with " nothing _nxpocf ; me to toll you anything of the piece . F < . nough if T sa y mmg it was and how excellently acted . Mudnmo Vestris , to I

    " ¦ ¦ ' — ' * ' ' — whose taste the public owes so much ( and cheerfhlly _acknowledges the debt !) had a capital part in Dame Goldenheart , and played it as if she liked iti She was in wonderful voice . Julia St . George improves with etery new part , though I must whisper a word tb her in _confidence ( like a stage aside ) , not to overload her head with such a profusion of curls ; she has not height to carry such a _tnass . Miss Robertsou made her first appearance , and a very pretty appearance she made , _sp as to justify Prince Almond ' s passion both by her sweet looks and her sweet voice . Miss Wyndham made a very prettyprincess , and Miss Eglinton a seductive prince . A word also for Miss Ellis , who looked queenly , and played a small part with the nicest possible discrimination . Frank Mathews as King Bruin was perfect : his savage tragedy , his dignity , aud his terror , kept the house " roaring . " The tone was consistent , and kept within the bounds of burlesque . Altogether I declare I have not seen such a fairy piece as this . The triumvirate—Vestris , Plditch _6 , Beverly ( let no classical gentleman raise his eyebrows at the vir )—have opened Fairyland : who is there will not take a peep ? LEO THE TERRIBLE attracted me on Tuesday . It was perhaps unfair to any piece to see it after the Good Woman in the Wood , but that I couldn't help . There is some side shaking fun in Leo the Terrible , and some puns so sublimely bad , that they extort shouts of amazed mirth ; there are also some pointed lines ; but the burlesque , as a whole , moves heavily ; there is too much dough in this Christmas pudding , and the citron , spices , plums , and spirit , should have been more liberally bestowed to make that dough digestible . I The fable is set in an obscure and pointless framework , which has the further disadvantage of throwing a large proportion of the music upon the shoulders ( mind , I use the word advisedly ) of Mr . Caulfield , who is not mv ideal of a _caotivatinff tenor !

    On the other hand , only imagine Keeley as a Jolly Tar ! Keeley shivering his timbers ! Keeley dancing the hornpipe ! . Keeley as one of our wooden walls ! It is worth going miles to see . There he is , in the approved T . P . Cooke costume , aliquantum ventrosius , to speak with Plautus , " greatly ventripotent , " with a pigtail reaching nearly to the ground , looking like an animated bumboat rolling ashore ; and Mrs . Buckingham too , she is a " rakish craft" ( avast there , messmate !) , quite an honour to the service ! Bland as King Leo , the very mildest of Lions , ( by the way what a happy phrase is that applied to him , " Time the resistless dentist" ) was what Bland always is—immense . Buekstone grotesque as usual in the small part of a brigand chief . The idea of a _Reinecke Fuchs burlesque , which is hinted in this Leo the Terrible ( the personce being animals ) , was a happy one , and gave variety to the costumes . I can say nothing however in praise of the scenery and getting up of the piece ; except the final tableau , which was loudly applauded , the scenes were sadly inartistic . THE MARIONETTES have achieved " a blaze of triumph" with their Christmas spectacle , AU Baba and the Forty Thieves , which is mounted with great splendour and effect . The holidays ought to bring a new and joyous public to these Marionettes , which have now attained extraordinary dexterity in their " deportment . " , MR . WOODIN'S SOIREES no boy should allow to pass unseen . I advise every juvenile to pester and clamour around Pas , Mas , aunts , uncles , godpas , and big brothers , until he has extorted . a promise to be shown the contents of Woodins Carpet Bag and Sketch Book . Having done so , he can return into the bosom of his family , and get up a few private representations on his own account , imitating his schoolmaster ( the old frump !) , his usher ( the prig !) his caput puer ( the coxcomb !) together with sketches of the young gents who come courting his sister ; which will make his sister so fond of him ! Vivian . P . S . Instead of waiting till next week to give you a veridical account of all tho pantomimes , I turned tho generous enthusiasm of a young and ingenuous artist to account . He has just como up to London ; to him I confide the Pantomimes !

    ¦¦ > A Wekk Of Ro Kino-Nights. As It Was...

    ¦¦ > A WEKK OF RO KINO-NIGHTS . As it was ten years since I had seen a London pantomime , I was easily persuaded by my cousins , at whoso house I am spending Christmas , to promise a treat " somewhere" during the holidays ; and on Monday , bearing this promise in mind , I walked up to Vivian ' s . " _Ileiw d ' ye do , old fellow P" he cried , in his loudest and gayest mannei :, as soon us be saw me . "Merry Christmas , & c . J low have you left ' em all at homeP What are ; the latest accounts from the flood districts P Sit down , sit down . You don ' t smoke , 1 . think F" said he , slyly . He remembered how I didn't . "I am staying with my aunt , at Ball ' s . Pond , Vivian , " said I , when wo had exchanged salutations . "The girls have been asking me—you know Miss Brown , 1 believe P—fo take them to one ofthe pantomimes . Which house should you recommend F " " You want free admissions , yem sly dog , " he answered , " and would prefer choosing for yourself . Come , now , what do you say to going officially to all the pantomimes ? You write ; a little , you ' know . Tliose things you Aent us up somo weeks ago are ; still under consideration af the office . Fact , I assure you . Well , will you give one ; a lift with the _theatres this week or not , eh P " "Vivian , " said I , " count ( rti my _frie'iidship . " The _iai'f is , I was transporfe'el with the notion , and only afraid ed' his _rofrnoling his proposal . " Say nei more ; , my dear fellow , " I exclaimed , _grawping his hand warmly . "It shall be done , depend on if . Pll go everywhere . ( Jive me the tickets , mid not n / nighf will I miss fill I ' ve seen all . Adieu ! " And sure enough I Mas oil ' , with the ; whole pack of playhouse cards buttoned up snugly in the side ; peeked , of my _greaf-e-oaf . If did not strike me fill 1 had got hack to Bull ' s Pond , where 1 felt tht ) necessity of composing my niinel , that , there wero but four nights available for my purpose . On those four nights , therefore ; , i ( , would he my duty to see the four best pantomimes , as far as . 1 . hud uny means of judging what

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 1, 1853, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01011853/page/21/