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      14 Rp H Ja I, E A P E B,. [No. 458, Janu...

      14 rp ja i , e A P E B ,. [ No . 458 , January 1 , 1859 ,

      Two Historical Dramas. Julian The Aposta...

      TWO HISTORICAL DRAMAS . Julian the Apostate , and The Dtike of Mercid . Historical Dramas . By the late Sir Aubrey Be Vere . Basil M . Pickering . It is now more than five-and-tliirty years since we first perused the liistorical drama by Sir Aubrey de Vere founded on the story of Julian the Apostate , and recognised in it considerable poetic taste , combined with much dramatic power . There was no attempt at stage adaptation in the work , but ; the prevailing spirit was that of classical imitation . The work was not even divided into act and scene ;

      the design evidently being a dramatic poem for the closet—a kind of production then thought proper enough . The form , however , was never popular , and Sir Aubrey De Vere by this and other similar productions only secured a reputation among aristocratic readers and a few literary friends . With theirs as a poet , he held , we believe , a respectable position . At any rate , he deserved it perhaps more . ,. Sir Aubrey De Vere was the contemporary of Iiord Byron and Sir Robert Peel at Harrow , where lie was educated . In 1807 he married the sister of JLord Monteagle , with whom he had formed an enduring friendship . From a boy he had been

      accustomed to the scenery of the lake country , near Ambleside , and thence derived a faculty of description , which . he subsequently exhibited in soiinets ^ on Castleconhei , Adore * Kilmallock , and Cashel , which have obtained notice . Iii sonnet-writing he emulated Wordsworth , of whom he Was a friend . Historical and political sonnets also exist of his composition .: In 1823 The Duke of Mercia appeared—the second production now published in the volume before us ; This subject is treated in the form of the old chronicle plfay , and is divided into five parts , -with

      an introduction . The characters and story are well enough delineated , and there is much "fine poetic dialogue in some scenes . But its construction in regard to its hero is absurd . -He is , in fact , the Iagp of the piece , without Iago ' s intellect ; always blundering in his plans , and finding from the first his wickedness to be his weakness , and yet claiming the reader ' s sympathy . It is impossible that either pity or terror could , oe excited for the fortunes of such a hero . Never was such perversity of taste shown as in such an attempt to excite dramatic interest / But we must recollect that this was the

      era of Childe Harolds and Bertrams , and these may have led the imitative author to select a guilty hero . Byron arid Maturiii , however , invested their personages with power of some kind ; Sir Aubrey ' s is remarkable only for his imbecility . The above volume is evidently intended . to be the first of a series destined to include all Sir Aubrey ' s productions . In 1842 , he wrote a " Song of Faith , " and afterwards ( 1844-5 ) , " Mary Tudor , " his most considerable work . He died at Currah Chase , on the 28 th July , 184 G , in the fifty-eighth year of his age . .

      Sir Aubrey De Vere might have'been a better poet had he been less fortunately p laced in society . It is calculated that he occupied , about "ten or twelve months of his life , scattered over its various portions , in the composition of his larger works ; ° —the remainder was spent in the formation of a library , the cultivation of the fine arts , and the education of his children . The Muses require , a more severe and sincere devotion than all this implies . His real devotion , it seems , was given to the adornment of his family residence , winch

      his biographer says , " became one of the fine arts , and was carried out with the eye of a painter . " We ipust , therefore , regard Sir Aubrey De Vere ' s poetry aa the product of his leisure- —the amusement of hours when he had nothing else ( not to say , better ) to do — and not as the business and Japour of a life , sacred to high thoughts and the noblest feelings . In this point of view , it has some merit : and there may bo an intoUigont few who will take an interest in the collection of his literary remains .

      Moses Wimble. Moses Wivible. A Prose, Dr...

      MOSES WIMBLE . Moses Wivible . A Prose , Dramatic , and Lyrical Epic . ¦ W ritten by Himself . " a J . Skoot . There are some worka the purpose of which fairly puzzle the sharpest sighted and moat tolerant of critics . Jt jis difficult to know sometimes whether writers assume the garb of eccentricity , the same as offenders put on insanity , in order to escape exooution , or whether tljo ecqentriolty la part and parcel of their literary idiosyncrasy , we have tqwXMosm

      Wimble with mixed feelings—sometimes astonished at what appears to be unalloyed nonsense , at others surprised at the Whim and good sense which shine out boldly in different portions of the work . To attempt a long analysis of the story would be a waste of space . We will be as brief as possible . Moses Wimble is the son of an officer of good family * but without fortune . He is sent to England to his uncle , a lawyer , in charge of an old dragoon , named Whistling . His uncle is a vulgar skinflint ; and after a peep into the lawyer ' s domestic arrangements , and a view of the miserable life the young nephew leads , the acquaintance terminates by Moses repaying the brutality of his relative by

      knocking him down with an inkstand . Another uncle , the Rev . Obadiah Comfort , of Buttonlump , a perfect Uncle Toby in canonicals , takes Moses into his family , brings hitn up tenderly , and adopts him as his son . Mr . Snuffpepper , a benevolent oddity in his way , is introduced , and so is Dr . Doublebull , a schoolmaster , to whom Moses is sent for scholastic training . When grown tip to manhood Moses is allowed to choose his profession . He chooses that of an architect , and is sent into the office of Mr . Weyday , where he becomes acquainted with Stumpy , a pupil of Weyday ' s , and presumed to represent the " fast gent" of the present day . Moses also forms ward Julia

      an acquaintance with Mr . Weyday ' s , one Wavering ; and after some time a mutual attachment springs up . A cloud comes over the sunshine that is everywhere visible . The Rev , Obadiah Comfort js accused of forgery , and put into prison to take his trial . He makes a speech to the jury , which is given at length , and is honourably acquitted . The marriage of Moses Wimble and Julia Wavering takes place , and the curtain drops rather suddenly oh the story . There are endless snatches of ballads , or something intended for ballads , the paternity of which we presume will be claimed by the author of the prose , who has evidently emptied his poetical rag-bag into his work .

      Chiming Trifles. Chiming Trifles: A Coll...

      CHIMING TRIFLES . Chiming Trifles : a Collection of Fugitive Compositions in Verse , on Subjects Grave and Gray . By an Oxonian . - W . Kent and Co . These Versicles are what their author describes them in his title-page , and no more . They are trifles by a pupil-mind * trying its powers while undergoing cultivation , and disposed to look on the mirthful side of things . " Down the stream of life , floating idly on , " to quote from one of . his own poems , his eye glances here and there , and receives sudden impressions , which his college studies have put him in the way of recording . He has a liking for parodj ' and pun , for the charade and the rebus ,- and will probably turn out an agreeable writer of light pieces .

      Relics Of Genius. Relics Of Genius. By T...

      RELICS OF GENIUS . Relics of Genius . By T , P . Grinsted . Illustrated . W . Kent and Co . This volume consists of relics of about two hundred and fifty eminent Poets , Painters , Players , and men who have made their mark on the age in which they flourished . As a matter of course , the notices cap only be of the briefest description , and the selection of characters limited . The touch-and-go reader who likes to know a little of everything and everybody will find this book very well adapted to give him a good deal of information in a readable and compendious form . .

      Sketches Of London Life. Sketches Qf Lon...

      SKETCHES OF LONDON LIFE . Sketches qf London Life and Character . By A . Smith , R . Brough , Shirley Brooks , Stirling Coyne , Horace Mayhew , Charlea Kennoy , John Oxenford , James Hannay , T , Miller , Angus Reach . With Illustrations by Gavarni . Dean and Co . Theses Sketches have already received their meed of praise from the reading public . They are of unequal merit , but they display very fairly the peculiar stylo of these well-known light writers . We could wishi however , that popular favourites would not so perpetually make such violent attempts at being smart and funny , and , above all , would avoid the appearance of making a dead set at the public in their passages of pathos . The style of several of the subjects and characters is too ornate ; more simplicity would give more truth , and would really make these Sketches what they profess to be ^ -correct delineations of various phases of London life . The illustrations of Gavarni have their value , but the artistehimself foreign—has given rather too foreign an air to some of hia subjects .

      How To Calculate This Vamjk Of Nlcorors....

      HOW TO CALCULATE THIS VAMJK OF NlCORORS . —A singular but accurate way of estimating tlio price of field hands may be found In the price of cotton . For every cont a pound for cotton a Hold hand will bring 100 dole . ; for Instance , tho present price qf cotton Is 10 to 12 . con £ and the prlco of a negro man Is from 1000 to 1200 dols . Tho price of the latter may not fluctuate aa rapidly as cotton , but * Is not ; the loss certain to follow an udvunco or decline of any duration ,-r- Savannah JiopubKoan .

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      Dbtjuy X.Ani5 Theatre. Wk Have So Little...

      DBTJUY X . ANI 5 THEATRE . Wk have so little space at our command for even the brief review which may be necessary to . afford our readers a glimpse of public opinion upon the various pantomimes , that we must waive all pretence to a preliminary flourish of trumpets . The shortest essay upon -the rise and progress of pantomime ; the most condensed reminiscences of pantomimic celebrities , from Grinialdi , the past grand master of clowns , to W . H . Payne , theprwio Arlecchino assoluto . of the modern stage ; even the slightest meteorological bulletin of this most atmospherically miserable Christmas week , would be all too long . We must ,.

      therefore , plunge -with what brevity we may into a rather dry and colourless report of the leading performances , and the particularly prominent feature * of each . We must begin with Drury Lane , the patentest of patent theatres , which has in no wise yielded its hard-won and time-honoured position at the top of the Christmas-tree . Under the constellation of Blanchard , Beverley , and Dykwynkyn , the Drury Lane pantomimes have for years been " very successful . " This is a term , unfortunately , much abused ; but we believe they have even been so truly so as to have been profitable to the . management , which seems to us the height of " very

      successfulness . " We venture to think the Cerberine authorhood will again bring luck to their employer . They have at all events , with becoming modesty , and toguard against any possible insufficiency of their own , allied to themselves a host of celebrities in the trick , property , wardrobe , and trans formation lines , whosenames we have here no room to chronicle , but who figure more or less prominently in the bills . Mr . E . Li Blanchard , the imaginative coparcener , after r we apprehend , many a dubitative dive into the oft-fished , waters of novelty , has brought up the " Robin Hood" ballads , andaithhis fellow labourers has reverentially ( though at first sight heretically ) r put the worthy of " Merrie Sherwood" and his following into pantomime harness . To shorten his labours upon his subject proper and draw safety the craftsman has

      from the nettle danger , cunning made sport of his difficulties , and illustrated the agonies of an author in . search of a subject , in two capital opening scenes . The rising of the curtain displays the Genius-in-Chief of Music in her native halls , attended by her satellites of the Italian Opera , English Opera , and Canterbury Hall . They constitute themselves into what M . Jullien terms " a congress of harmony , " , after a most harmonious debate , secure a legacy from the old year to the new one of a full-blown pantomime . The matter is referred to a second chamber , a fairy council holden in a scene a la Watleau of great taste and splendour . Here Terpsichore revels awhile , and the audience , having expressed their delight at what we may ungrudgingly term a triumph of the scenic art , are taken into the Outlaws' Glade in Sherwood Forest . Hence ,

      after some capital rallies of humour between jiobm and his mates , we get to an elaborate scene in Nottingham market-place . Our authors have certainly hot read Strutt ' s " Sports and Pastimes'Tor nothing ; for with audacious—and , under the circumstances , of course proper—disregard of chronology , they have displayed their well-disciplined Nottingham roughs qnjoying every sport practised in England from the tali of the Roman legionaries to the Aunt Sally of our modern Somerset . During the festival Maid Marian is insulted ; bold Jlobin and his men come to a difference with the townspeople . The civil powor inter " feres and a row ensues , which may terminate

      anyhow but for the fortunate enlistment of the forest fairies in behalf of the Knights of St . Hubert . Green Man and Still being natural and close allies , the foresters are transported to a woodland sanctuary of surpassing lovoliness and bliss . But Jto qualify for such a habitation the mortals must be changed , So at the fairy ' s will tho pantomime cast appears . Messrs . Boleno and Uelftvanti are the Clowns , Messrs . Milano and St . Maine the Harlequins , Messrs , Tanner and Delavanti tho Pantaloon ; Madame Boleno and Miss Brown tho Columbines . All these , upon the assumption of their celestial robes , hop , skip , and jump , in token of their

      vast delight , and in the boat manner . Tho inn or the harlcquinado is really fast and furious . Wo are —thank Ueayon—not too old to enjoy it ; and wo found enough of It here , and to spare . A brigade ol Bluecoat-boys could hardly have inspected this pare of the entertainment -with more critical acumen than ourselves , and we are yet disposed to find no fault . Truly , thore is none to flnd , unless it bo tlio substitution of a new comic song for tho luwlui " Hot Codlings . " Tho policeman Is punished m flrst-rato style . The feelings of the lady who keeps an establishment for younger ladles are duly outraged . Shopkeopers of all sorts and their assistants wore appropriately insulted , chaffed , and unpusoa upon . Tho colours of Old England arp fl <« lUt < £ amid thunders of applause as " warranted nuc to

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 1, 1859, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01011859/page/14/