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Leader (1850-1860), 16th October 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 14

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    • « (6\A]t Atl r l v^yv *«?»•? 4
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      The English Cookery Book. The Eiiglish C...

      possibly , the receipt which we declaim against w Kveite admirers : The Avork is illustrated with Sates and contains very easy directions for carving , whether fowl , fish , joint , or game .

      Elaboratehi Tion Of His Father' B. The L...

      . THE LEADER . [ No . 447 , Ogtobeb 16 , 1858 ^

      Old Gingerbread And The Schoolboys. (Smi...

      Old Gingerbread and the Schoolboys . ( Smith , Elder , and Co . )—A very pretty present for good boys—not too high-flown in its diction , simply and sensibly written and handsomely illustrated . ; A New Dictionary of Quotations from the Greek , Latin , and Modern Languages . By the Author of " Live and Learn . " ( J . F . Shaw . )— " Quotation is a good thing , there is a community of mind in it ; classical quotation is the parole of literary men all over the world . " So said our Great Lexicographer in the last century , and few -will be found disposed to question the soundness of the dictum in this . But the art of quoting well is not easily attained . A show of learning may be made even by the most illiterate with the help of a Dictionary of

      Quotations , but no real scholar will be imposed upon , 01 fail to detect the clumsy assumption of classical learning . We have a literature and a language of our own so complete that we can dispense with the aid of Greek and Latin excerpts , and therefore to quote largely , as was the wont in the mediaeval ages , would now be placed to the score of pedantry . But , though quotation is diminished , it is not wholly abandoned . An apt quotation very often give 9 force and point to an author's meaning . It is proper , therefore , that the unclassical ehoulcL have an opportunity of clearing away this stumbling-block to full enjoyment , and it is only by the resort to a Dictionary of Quotations that this , object can

      be easily effected . The present " new dictionary" several improvements on works of a similar kind . The number of quotations are in some respects amplified , and the explanations and illustrations are of a more detailed character . -But then on a cursory glance over the work we detect sins of omission and commission . A "New" Dictionary of Quotations surely should contain some of the commonest quotations diffused over our current literature . For instance , why are entirely omitted such eyery-day Latin quotations as " Aliquando bonus Jormitat Homerus "— " Ne sutor ultra crepidam " - — " Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim "—and " TvasBt a-eavTov . " We could give a score of others equally

      hackneyed , that Ought to find a place in any dictionary professing to be complete . Then again , under what form as quotations could the words " Gutta-percha , " " Grenadier , " " Inca , " " Dyspepsy , " and numerous other proper names , fairly take rank iii such a work ? A little careful revision , it will be seen , is required to make this Dictionary of Quotations one of the best of its kind . Homely Ballad * for the Working Man ' s Fireside . By Mary Sewell . ( Smith , Elder , and Co . )—Jikymes for Little Ones . By the Author of " The Servants' Hall . " ( Smith , Elder , and Co . )—These are two very fresh and pleasant contributions to the happiness of the working or other man ' s fireside . Miss Sewell , with a large faith in the real worth , patience , and industry which animate

      the great mass of our industrial population , in simple verses tells stories of members of their own class , and teaches from their examples and faults the sound lessons of sobriety , frugality , and mutual forbearance . This book , introduced by the hand of charity into , baskets sent from rich to poor houses , with provisions or clothing , would give the gift a higher valuo . The ballads are really homely . They are not written , like most of these things , about the poor , for the rich to read . They speak as much to as of the working man and working woman . The Rhymes for Little Ones are rather fpr little ones ¦ whoso papas and mammas can afford to bring home to the nursery tops " , and magic lanterns , and boxes of bricks . The very pictures , depicting impossible pleasures , would only tantalise a poor man ' s child .

      Among other little ones , the book will be a favourite , with Its score of pictures , and its blue and gold boards . TU New Claaaicul Lexicon . By T . S , Carr , M . A . ( Simpkiu and Marshall . )—The learned author does not disguise the fact that it is « matter of great difficulty to bring within ordinary compass the vast amount of materiale which go to form a perfect classical dictionary . But he believes that by a clear arrangement of the leading facts and a selection of the most salient points for illustration and compression carried to the utmost limits compatible with perspicuity may , to a great extent , remove the difficulties . Mr . Carr has carried out his own idea , in a very masterly manner . The explanations and arrangements , and genorul plan of the work , aro of the highest merit .

      LebaJtria German Exercises . —The object of this littlo publication is to furnish tho lournor of German * " with a series of exorcises on the irregular verbs , "—and that object nppenra to bo carried out with groat ability—introductory exercises on tho declensions of the nouna and adjectives , as nlso on tho pronouns . Tho regular conjugation ami preposition are given , and also pieces for translation aro inserted . Holbein ' s Dance of Death . By F . Douce , Esq ., F . A . S . ( Bonn . )—Tho learned author of this dissertation appoars to have collected nil that Is known on tho subject of the " Dauco of Death , " not only the popular sories of Representations attributed generally to Holbein , but those of others who have worked at the same Won . About

      ninety capital wood engravings adorn this elaborate work , and will assist in giving the reader a complete idea of the curious and allegorical labours of writers ot past ages . .

      Musra Serenade\ Pour Piano. Par E. Aguil...

      Musra Serenade \ pour Piano . Par E . Aguilar . ( Schott and Co . )—Elegant and graceful , and a favourable specimen of the composer ' s style . . The Harmonised Airs from Moore ' s Irish Melodies With Original Symphonies and Accompaniments by Sir John Stevenson and Sir Henry Bishop , for Two , Three , and Four Voices . - ( Longman and Co . )—Moores Melodies are the delight of all who appreciate charming music , and in no country is good music more truly appreciated than in England . These melodies are arranged for partsinging , and it is only necessary to point to the eminent musicians who have furnished the accompaniments to show that the work is worthy to find a place in every drawing-room .

      Mr. Crockfoed Has Announced That He Is A...

      Mr . Crockfoed has announced that he is about to remove the Critic and the other publications which he has for many years conducted , to 19 , Wellington-street iq-orth _ next door to the Morning Post offices . The Field is about to shift its quarters from Essexstreet to D'Ovley s Warehouse , No . 346 , Strand .

      « (6\A]T Atl R L V^Yv *«?»•? 4

      € \) t Irta-

      Theatres And Public Entertain-. . Ments....

      THEATRES AND PUBLIC ENTERTAIN-. . MENTS . Dbcry Lane Theatre : Pyne and Harrison Company . —On Monday last , Fiotow ' s opera Martha was produced at this theatre , and has since been played on alternate nights with the Rose ofCastille Playgoers who remember the ballet of the Lady Henrietta , or the plot of the Maid of Honour—and there are few , we apprehend , to whom one or other is not familiar—will not require to be reminded . of the plot . Other readers . must be informed that the the of of

      interest turns , Brst upon sorrows a youth low degree , who falls in love at a statute fair with a . lady of high ~ birth and position , " who has gone thither with a female friend in quest of distraction and a new sensation . The hero of the tale , Lionel ( Mr . Harrison ) , and his -intimate friend , Pliinket ( Mr . J . G . Patey ) , hire these ladies as servants , pay them earnest-money , according to the custom of the country , and insisting upon the fulfilment of the bargain , in which they are supported by the sheriff , finally take them home . They soon find they have caught a brace of Tartars , and the ladies , that they are not unlikely to

      pay dearly for their frolic : Their employers insist upon teaching them to spin flax , which gives opportunity for the now celebratod spinning-wheel scene , and for several quartetts , duos , and airs , including our own " Last Rose of Summer , " which Herr Flotow has taken for the backbone of the opera , and which he has complimente d our national repertory by thoroughly popularising throughout Germany . The spinning-wheels and the household being at last put to bed , Henrietta and Nancy are rescued from their embarrassing position by Lord Tristan , a fussy old gentleman who had accompanied them to the fair and been turned out of it by the peasantry for

      his interference with the usual course of business . But they have not passed unscathed through the furnace of admiration ; for though Mr . Plunl-et consoles himself at a roadside pothouse with a colourless bulfb song upon the noble theme of Beer , Misses Henrietta and Nancy no sooner get back to the aristocratic glades of Uiehmond Park and tho company of their friends , than they find themselves , if not in love , at least in whut they are pleased to term an onigmatical state of feelings . But tho footsteps of tho love-sick Liqncl and his friend straying thnt way too , a meeting takes place , Tho former oilers his iovo to Lady Henrietta , and taking tho liberty of a kiss , gets repulsed . He then claims her as his servant , very much of course to tho surprise of Lord Tristan , the Polonius of the

      play , and of tho chorus of servants and hunters . These take him into cnBtody on tho spot for his impertinence , bub Henrietta orders his release , and he departs , leaving behind him a ring— -proof of Ilia noble birth—just as a very beautifully arranged royal hunting procession crosses the scene . In the last act wo aro again introduced to Plun / tet ' s farm-house , and to Lionel in a state of mortal love-sickness . Ho is in such a bad way that Plunhet deplores Ills imminent death , and prays Hoavon for morcy in one of tho most dclicato ballads of tho opera . " Lionel will surely die , " is a melody of tho modern Germain school , eminently ndnptod . for tho drawingroom , but being almost : too refined to catch the ear of the multitude , did not receive an encore . Henrietta and Nancy next come to the rescue . Having wrought poor Lionel to distraction , they now console him with tho intelligence that ho la Earl of Denvent , enricliod ,

      hi reparation of his father ' s wrongs , by the Crown and a peer of England . Henrietta has had this inirnation from the Queen herself , to whom she bore the token ring , and is now ready and' willing to be his , and so ion . It is Lionel ' s turn to coquet . Shetries . again the fascination of the " Last Uose of Summer , " but he is obdurate . His « ' Yes , I hate thee , " is a most effective morceau , and being set rather low , and sung without the slightest vocal strain , made a deep impression . He departs . Henrietta despairs , and affairs seem at a dead-lock ; out Nancy and Plunket make up their own match less sentimentally , and find a way out of the wood for

      the others in a very light , pretty duet , " I know well —I know too ; " as fanciful a strain , and as flimsily scored withal , as may be heard at the Lyrique or the-Bouffes at Paris . The last scene introduces a troop of very pretty girls in fanciful eostume , who go through some pleasing evolutions in sections and open column , and repeat the scene of the statute fair by order of the lad ies , to make an im ~ presssion upon Lionel . He enters despondingly enough , and is welcomed by a soft melodious chant . The stratagem succeeds ; he cannot resist the spell , ields himself and his affections

      and again y captive to the -Last Rose of Summer . " Although we feel we have hardly done justice in our resume to the many quiet and unobtrusive graces of this work , though we have named one or two of the more prominent pieces in the last two acts , we are at present unable to do more than promise ourselves a return to the subject in our next impression . The opera , on the whole , is a charming . melange of the sympathetic and the comic , of solo and concerted music , and cannot , we think , fail to win its way to an extended popularity .

      Olympic Theatre . —Last Monday night , a dull rumour crawled out and about that a play had been damned at the Olympic . They said that , in spite of the propitious stalls and boxes , an elaborate attempt to take the town by storm had been crushed into the general jam of medriocrity by a few warning hisses from some nobodies . And . so it was , ' These common geese asserted for the millionth time the fusty-musty old Horatian saw , whiclnre are ashamed to quote , but which an , over-weaning trust in hisoAm power or luck had betrayed the author of the fad Vial into ignoring . The maxim has worn well now some eighteen -centuries' -and a half , and may about as wisely be flouted by a dramatist as the mariner ' s compass * , by an Argonaut . His experiment must have cost the amiable author some pain , and the management * of the Olympic too ; for though the has

      offensive climax has been cut away , a prejudice been created against the work—natural it may bebut still excessive and regrettable . As our subscribers will , no doubt , expect of us some slight whihi of the incidents depicted , we must now proceed as briefly as we may to repoTt of the amended version of the Ud Vial . Isaac liodenherg ( Addison ) , a merchant of Frankfort , has for his partner in trade one Max Keller ( F . Vining ) , and for his housekeeper a JUmlame Bergmann ( Mrs . Stirling ) , the widow of an eminent chemist . A marriage is on tlie tapis between Keller ' s handsome son Karl (\ V . Gordon ) and the Widow Bergmann s pretty daughter jSliiuu ( M ^ s ilarston ); and the opening shows the parents oi the young couple engaged in the negotiation ui preliminaries . The 4 tl » of June being fixed wr tno happy day , and the interview being ended , - • liodenharn nnnears . and announces to tho wiuw accounts

      that tho firm lias been plundered , and the falsified . She directs his suspicion upon Hans orimm ( Kobson ) , a half-witted chamberlain , whonW . oiAwberg had delivered from a madliousc , and the omy one of whose coherent faculties is lu ^ gnitituyi . But suddenly called upon for a . Jlucon ot salts , bin , creates suspicion against herself by produuiny , - stead , a phial of chemical fluid , marked with directio iw for decolouring writing . Taxed with tlie crime oy her master , she confessoa it , and by her I" ''" . " " " anneals on her daughter ' s account , induces KwttHtHij

      to allow her time for replacement of Uio live th- > u » 'i » thnlers . This restitution , ic is agreed , is * - ' > l "' , place on tho ovo of tho day appointed for the weuding of Ninna and Karl . Meunwhllu , hoikaboj falls sick . Ho is watched hy J / ans wiih oll " ,. pcl " ment—by Madame Bergmann with another . 1 no u < ' hnppy woman at last , 1 ) nding all her uilurts V . (> , raise tho money—her own exnosuru anil piniisinnui and poor Ninna ' s blight and destitution » I" " 1 | I 11 C ! . C t *«* v * jruvk a n * i * w « **• igji w »»¦«*• *»»•»¦ -- ¦ .--- — I * i lilt * troubles 1 ! lUv

      resolves to cut tho Hnot of hor > V " ' S away with her good employer . IJor l | »« b » n , J casket of chemicals lays to her hunii . N > o nn »» that ten drops from a certain rod vl « l will «« c > and she mixes them with tho sick mans k-nuuado . Hut the eyo of Hans is upon her . u * -i too , finds his way to tho casket , mid d \ eco \ t * in it a certain antidote , which will throw hiu w o tokos it into atrnnee like death . Behoving that widow hns administered poison , Hans yivi'S ' » " ' /

      inaat ' or this liquor , lh furiously qwationa A '" w «* Btwgmannn toiler dealings with tho vuils . WU »» U 0 £ peroto coolness sheasauros him that tho red ono con ains a restorative llnuor only ; < wd the second » u , i .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 16, 1858, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_16101858/page/14/