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* o TIE LEIDBB. [Saturday, OP ¦-: - ..: ...
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. The Art qf Travel; o...
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THE WAR DIORAMA. Those old campaigners, ...
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PRINCESS'S THEATRE-LOUIS XI. . To say th...
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ST. JAMES'S THEATRE. Although we general...
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From Paris, we hear that M. Scribe's new...
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Tbkbruse& - Th& Brutes Of The Lebanon? T...
ffiKfflS 5 S £ 3 § 3 B ? i $£ 5 5 f sadSlOT > our ffold pieces , an hour after you have left his enqampmentj ffmrfso STpfuse . You are not only under the protection of your host tut of every other individual Druse , so long as you remain within their country Fand they have braved danger and annihilation rather than give up a refugee who had taken shelter with them . . ,. The religion of the Druses has been , and seems likely to remain , a perfect puzzle . Slndys thought they had none . Others have treated them as Mahometan dissenters , and some have suspected them of a kind of bastard Christianity . They have a . religion—its code is before us , translated for the first time into English . They are neither Mahometans nor Christians ; indeed it is easy to say what they are not , but human ingenuity must tail to discover what they are . A more extraordinary , extravagant , incomprehensible , unconnected document than this " Religious Code" it would be difficult for the imagination to invent , or Bedlam to produce . And yet it is not all absurd . You meet with thoughts and expressions in it that surprise you to tninK
bv their truth , their beauty , and their poetry , and just as you begin that the cloud is about to be cleared away and the light let m to your befogged mind , you are again led into a labyrinth of narrative , precept , and reflection so utterly confused and meaningless , that unmitigated absurdity is the very mildest term applicable to it . if we can imagine a chiffbnnierpicking up bits of torn paper that constituted parts of Bibles , Korans , the writings of Greek philosophers , Persian poets , Hindoo mythologists , Talmudic rabbis , and Chinese transcendentalists , and first shaking all these bits of paper together , and then taking them outjoining them together , and transcribing them
, literally , without any attempt to make ordinary sense out of the sentences thereby produced , we may have a faint idea of the " Religious Code of the Druses as it lies before us . The East has been the mother of all religions ( save that of Joe Smith ) , and a motley offspring she has produced ; but certainly she never gave birth to a stranger child than the creed of the Druses . Yet for this religion , in its name and for its exercise , have the people fought and bled for ages , though none of the laymen pretend to understand it , and their Akals , or doctors , are as secret and mysterious on the
subject as Freemasons , and probably for the same reason . The author of the work before us is the son of the British consul at Beyrout , and a native of that place . His knowledge of the Arabic language , and his constant residence amongst the peopl e of the Lebanon , well fit him for the task he has undertaken of making us better acquainted than heretofore with this strange nation . ' Ete has performed his work well ,-and if jiot quite satisfactorily , the deficiency has arisen more from the nature of the subject than from the author ' s shortcomings . It would , perhaps , have been better to have allowed some competent literary friend to have corrected the work before sending it to the press , for the author has ^ occasionall y a strange , and not very correct way of expressing himself , which may be
imputed partly to l ong residence away from England , and partly to Jus youth . According to one passage in his book he can-be only twenty years of age . Such being the case , it would be unfaurto criticise too closely any errors or defects in the style of a work which displays real ability , research , and earnestness of purpose—a work , too , which is valuable for the addition that it makes to our stock of knowledge on a subject of much interest , and which is withal very entertaining and readable . Of the public and private virtues of the Druses our author entertains the highest opinion , founded on much personal intimacy with them . Indeed , if we are to trust his judgment implicitly , we must pronounce the Druses the most virtuous , innocent , and truly moral people of the present age . Looking at this fact in connexion with their religious code ,- we are compelled-to admit either that their-rejigipn must be very different as taught from what i t is as written , or that morality and religi on may be entirely independent of each other , and that the former may be sound while the latter is all mystery or absurdity .
* O Tie Leidbb. [Saturday, Op ¦-: - ..: ...
* TIE LEIDBB . [ Saturday , OP ¦ -: - ..: ¦ , , . ' ¦ : ' ——— —— ¦ ^ = = ==== = ^ = . l =
Books On Our Table. The Art Qf Travel; O...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . The Art qf Travel ; or , Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries . By Francis Galton . - John Murray . The Formation and Progress of the Tiers Etat ; or , Third Estate in France . By Augustin Thierry . Translated from the French , by the Rev . Francis B . Wells . 2 vole . Thomas Bosworth . A Handbook of Proverbs , comprising an entire Republication qf May ' s Collection qf English Proverbs , with his Additions from Foreign Languages , and a complete Alphabetical Index , in which are introduced large Additions , as well of Proverbs as qf Sayings , Sentences , Maxims , and Phrases . Collected by Henry G . Bohn . Henry G . Bohn . Indestructibility , One qfthe great Truths proclaimed by Nature and Science . By Henry G . Cooper . R . Groombridge and Sons .
The Christian Life , Social and Individual . By Peter Bayne , M . A . James Hogg . The Step-Son , a Domestic Romance qfthe Present Day . By F . N . Dyer , Esq . 2 vols . R . Bentley . History of Christian Churches and Sects from the Earliest Ages qf Christianity . By the Rev . J . B . Marsden , M . A . R . Bentley . Ballads from Herodotus . By J . E . Bode , M . A . ( Second Edition , with four additional Pieces . ) Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans .
Population and Capital / being a Course qf Lectures delivered before t / ie University of Oarfbrd , 1858-4 . By George K . Ricfcards , M . A ., & c . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Constable ' s Miscellany qf Foreign Literature . Vol . IV . T . Constable and Co . The Young Ladies ' First French Booh , with a Vocabulary qfthe French and English and tho English and French of all the Words used in the Book . By R . Aliva . Hope and Co . Life qf WUUam EUy , R . A . By . Alexander Gilchrist . D . Bogue . A Doxm Pair qf Wedding Gloves—Glove-making xoithout the G . James Black wood .
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The War Diorama. Those Old Campaigners, ...
THE WAR DIORAMA . Those old campaigners , Grieve and Telbin , have recommenced operations a * the Gaixery of Illustration in Regent-street . "The war that fora space aid fail" to keep the popular demand for warlike exhibitions up to a sufficiently navine pitch , has been a more exciting topic since the closing of the diorama of El in the Baltic and Black Sea ? Still we cannot help preferring , as pic . tares , the best of the scenes in the old diorama ( which still j i oj [*»* £ . ^^ ° ^> to the representation of moving accidents by flood and field , which make us rather feel the absence of motion . The views of SebastopoL Constantinople , Cronstadt , and St . Petersburg , are not only better , considered as works of art ^ but they aVe , in our belief , more effective with the mass of sp ^ tators than are the scenes at the battle of Alma , and the latest addition of the cavalry charge at Balaklava . These have the fault which we have observed m all pictures of the kind—excessive violence without real force .
Princess's Theatre-Louis Xi. . To Say Th...
PRINCESS'S THEATRE-LOUIS XI . . To say that Casimir Delavigne ' s Louis XL , as adapted by Mr . Bourcicault for the Princess ' s Theatre , is an exceedingly good play , would be ^ an exaggeration ; compression has not given it that which was wanting m the ° TO * l ~ movement ; while the versification ( for more ' s the pity , it is written in blank verse ) is far inferior to M . Delavigne ' s , who at least understood the mechanism of poetry ; but it is put together with a considerable amount of tact , andtne two or three strong situations are worked up in a very artistic manner . We nave no intention of detailing the plot , which is of the slightest ; the object of the author was clearly not to write a drama , but one great character—a detestable king . This part was intended for Talma , who rehearsed it many times , but for some reason unknown to us , did not perform it . Ligier inherited ifc . and has nW ^ ifc » . nnstantlv at the Francais . and always with success , —yet he played
it not so discriminately nor so powerfully as Mr . Kean . Certainly tne readers of the Leader are aware that we have not always expressed favourable opinions of that singularly-unequal actor ' s performances , but it would be difficult to deny that on this occasion Mr . Kean has achieved an undeniable and merited success . There is a great deal of light and ^ shadein the part —transition bits , as it were—and all these are seized upon by Mr . Kean surely , but delicately , in away that shows not only natural aptitude , but taste and study . Take as an example the scene where Louis is quietly gmng ^ rristan l'Hermite directions for the murder of the "Burgundian Envoy : he hears tne Angelus , and immediately turning away from the subordinate cut-throat , commences muttering an Ave , or a Credo—marmottant ses patendtres—to tne image of some saint which he wears in his cap—then takes up his homicidal direction just where he left off , without the slightest change pf tone or gesture . We need only add that the minor parts are passably filled : we may particularize Mr . Ryder and Miss Leclerc .
St. James's Theatre. Although We General...
ST . JAMES'S THEATRE . Although we generally look upon classic revivalsas lugubrious shams , we must admit that the adaptation of Alcestis , now given at this theatre , is in many respects highly creditable . It-is true that there are critical objections lying upon the surface of the piece which will occur to every schoolboy who sees it . Nothing of the original is preserved but the leading idea of Alcestis' noble sacrifice , the episode caused by the arrival of Hercules , and Adraetus' endeavour to hide the fresh sorrow from bis guest ; it must be admitted that whenever Mr . Spicer ( the adapter ) has wandered from thej | original , he has wandered from pure taste . What would hare been the sensations of an Athenian audience had their dramatist committed the solecism of portraying , even in the recesses of a tomb , the actual physical struggle between Death and Hercules ? But , let us not be critical , when criticism is so easy ; rather let us commend the manner in which Alcestis is put upon the stage , the scenery , the appropriate costumes , the music of Gliick . Miss Vandenhoff , ~ -who has so flneaweakness for Greek heroines ; was acontinualstudy for the sculptor ; Mr . Stuart ( thanks to padding and cork-soles ) made a very fair Falstaffiim version of " Hercules . "
We all remember the profound learning displayed by the great lessee of the Princess ' s on the occasion of reviving Macbeth . Even Xiphilin becomes insignificant beside the erudition of Mrs . Seymour , when she lectures us about Vitruvius and the versura of the ancients . We are reminded of that learned daughter of a civilian , who lectured the scholars from behind a screen lest her beauty should distract their attention from her argument .
From Paris, We Hear That M. Scribe's New...
From Paris , we hear that M . Scribe's new play , La Tzarine , written expressly for Mademoiselle Rachel , was produced at the Theatre Francais on Monday last before a crowded audience , in which the public could hardly find a seat , as every box and stall was secured by the Court , the Ministers , and other functionaries of the government , without number . Mademoiselle Rachel , we believe , may almost be considered a member of the existing Government ; not that , like many others , she has not served former r 6 gim . es . At all events , she is a personage " in authority . " The play excited great interest from its title , besides the interest attached to any new creation of the celebrated actress , and M . Scribe ' s name implies success . La Tzarine is a success , but not a success of enthusiasm : it will probably be what is called the vogue for a few weeks . Mademoiselle Rachel ' s success is a success of costumes which have probably never been surpassed in richness . . Her acting was altogether inferior to her reputation : whether she has lost all respect for her art , or for the public , we cannot say ; but she literally gabbles , and reserves her genius for a few flashes , leaving all the rest a blank . The Leader noticed a deterioration of power when this
highlygifted woman was last in London ; since then a neglected art has punished an unfaithful artist ; and Mademoiselle Rachel , with all her grace and witchery , and almost electrical fascination , is sinking into a remembrance and regret of a marvellous promise unfulfilled , It may be interesting to our readers to know that the " Tzarine , " the heroine of M , Scribe , is the Catherine of Peter the Great , not , as might have been supposed , Catherine tho Second . Madame Emile do Girardin ' s screaming Jocrisserie , "Le Chapeau d'un Horloger" still draws all Paris to the Gymnase . This inimitable buffbonery , conceived in tho spirit of the finest comedy by the hand of genius that drew tears from half Europe in La Joie fait Pcur , was written originally for privato theatricals at a Chuteau in Normandy . Prince Poniatowsky , wo believe , was to have played tho part of the servant . Hero is a success for Buckstono or Keeley . Whether the finesse of the original would not evaporate in translation , is another question : thero is one scene between the husband disposed to be jealous , and a bantering friend , which is nothing less than an exquisite domestic parody of tho great scene in the third act of Othello .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 20, 1855, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20011855/page/20/
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