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Leader (1850-1860), 31st May 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 519, Untitled Article

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    • ^>ragra;s tjie ^raplt.
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      Untitled Article

      indifferently sung . The chorus made up for this failure to some extent , by their magnificent execution of the triumphant finale—perhaps the most glorious finale ever written . Madame Castellan in Leonora was about as good as any one expected ; she had not the faintest conception of the part , did not understand the music , and was not even perfect in her notes—the duet in the grave was completely marred by her inaccuracy .

      Extra study will remedy something of this ; but no study will give her genius , no study will give her spirit . Tame , insipid , and pretty she will always be j with a delicious voice , considerable skill , good intonation , and entire absence of meaning . The very entrance told us what to expect . Instead of coming in exhausted with fatigue , and worn with anxiety , she stepped forward , smiling , coquettish , pretty—with more the air of Cherubino than of Fidelio—and even when the words " I am tried "

      are placed in her mouth , she belies them by her fresh and cheerful bearing . When the " agony begins to pile up , " as the Americans graphically express it , she goes through a series of conventional attitudes , but neither in her face nor her tones can the slightest emotion be detected . I will not compare her with Sophie Cruvelli , it would be unkind . Tamberlik did not act well as Florestan , but he sang the music enchantingly . The long and difficult scena which opens the second act , for the first time showed itself to me as a noble piece of writing ,

      because for the first time I heard it nobly sung . The Germans make nothing of it . Sims Keeves , whining and straining as if he were about to burst a bloodvessel , was far from agreeable ; but Tamberlik ' s delicate expression in the largo , and the impassioned fervour of the quick movement so thrilled the audience that they burst forth in a roar of applause , and , much as I object to the encore system , especially in dramatic situations , I encored as lustily as the rest ! As a matter of singing , that Bcena was the only perfect thing we had ; but it was worth standing all night to hear .

      Formes is as great in the part of Rocco as Cruvelli in her way is in Fidelio . A more finished piece of acting is not to be seen ; it is a thorough identification of himself with that of the bluff , jovial , hard , gaoler-like gaoler . It is a real conception , and fully executed . In the concerted pieces his fine voice told , though his tendency to loudnesj was not always sufficiently repressed . It is a performance worthy of careful attention , for not one moment does he drop the mask . Tagliafico was spirited and effective in Pizarro . The house was full , but not so full a&on Saturday to see Lucrezia Borgia !

      Untitled Article

      BOSCO'S EGYPTIAN MAGIC . Bosco , the wonder - worker , commenced his public performances at the Princess ' s Concert Koom , on Wednesday , to a numerous audience . The disposition of his salle is extremely brilliant and tasteful , his own manner singularly engaging and amusing , so that if I was delighted with his private performances , of course I applauded him in his more magnificent and necromantic appearance . Not that he exceeded what I had already seen . On the contrary , some of the tricks he performed in private were far more astounding , though less picturesque , than any of his tricks on Wednesday . But the great charm is the elegance and dexterity of his manipulation . The manner in which he

      baflles the eye in the plainest and simplest actions is beyond hyperbole . He holds a guinea-pig in his two hands , and seems to crush it , « o that the pig gradually disappears and only a small purse remuins ; and this so openly and slowly , that although you know that the change is effected by sleight-of hand , it is impossible to detect a single motion by which the thing is done . The applause which succeeded most of the tricks was very genuine ; and certainly never did conjuror startle his audience more than Bosco . He disdains everything but the Impossible . To him the Impossible is alone worthy of attention , and how easy it is to him !

      Untitled Article

      VIVIAN TO HIS CORRESPONDENTS , like all great and official men , I am overburdened with correspondents : my life in occupied in not answering them ! People fondly imagine it is so easy to write letters— " You , such a master of your pen I " they say . But there lies the mistake . Because I am a master , 1 can't write . It takes mo hours to dash off an invitation ; some men would write a folio while I write an article ; but oaks take centuries for growth—and I am an © ak . Besides I ulways think of Gregory of

      Nazianzen's precept ( you know what a slave I am to the Fathers !) that in epistles we should shirk fine writing , and sink gracefully into a chatty familiarity (^ SXaov « V to \ akmov AvoKKmiv ) , and it is not easy to do this , while fine writing is so facile ! Therefore , I leave letters unanswered . I ' m a bear , I know ; rude , unfriendly , proud—anything you please , except a correspondent ! But for once I will acknowledge the receipt of some letters . One asks me why , with my known love of the French Plays , I have said so little about them . My answer is brief : I had nothing to say . Ravel , who was to have been here , has met with an accident , and London is the sadder for it : Ravel

      absent , the bills had no attraction for me ; but next week the Queen of Tragedy is to appear , and those who wish to see the masterpieces of French poetry represented by the greatest of actresses may satisfy their desire . Another writes to me " in a passion , " he confesses , because L cannot sufficiently admire Sims Reeves , whom my friend pronounces " the greatest actor and singer , past , present , and future , " C ' est beaucoup dire ! I am rated for admiring Tamberlik and Cruvelli—who he assures me are

      mere trash—and for not admiring the overwhelming " genius" of Sims Reeves . Really , my good Bowman , your ire is singularly uncalled for in my case , because I do not write " we" and assume immensely oracular airs . I set down my own private opinion , to be held for what it is worth . If I am a noodle and write rubbish , I shall lose my readers and my place—which , entre nous , I suspect would be the case if I were to share your raptures about Sims Reeves—meanwhile you cannot expect

      me to give up my opinion in deference to your enthusiasm . Mario I must think an incomparably greater singer than your idol ; Tamberlik also ; nay , more , I will add , that although when Reeves first came out I admired him , and thought he would ripen into a good singer , of late he seems to me to have dropped quite into the second rank . You tell me his Ernani is the finest thing on the stage . When I have seen it I will alter my judgment if he give me the chance .

      A third friend thinks me so " difficult to please . " If I am difficult to please , that is not my fault . I am sure the readers of this department will testify to the gusto with which I do admire when I admire . Nobody can more dislike havingto blame ; but what am I to do when Mediocrity is trumpeted as Genius , and audiences applaud what they ought to hiss ? To you , fair Madam , so flatteringly desirous of knowing " is Vivian ? " I have but one soft whisper : I live at No . 13 , Tooley-street , Borough , and am visible every Sunday—after morning service . Vivian .

      Untitled Article

      THE ACQUA D'ORO . There be divers fountains in the Crystal Palace : the Crystal Fountain , with its dome of moving crystal formed in water ; the Lilliputian Fountain in the nave ; the curious squirt fountains in the transept ; but there is one which is more Bought than all , and more easy to find , though it lies hidden in a corner . You are walking in the gallery , and suddenly a delicious happiness takes possession of your senses . At first you cannot tell what it is—it is in the viewless air ; but so fine and sweet that you might take it for a moral feeling , an affection , a memory . It grows upon the sense , and becomes more vivid : it is a perfume ; and following the scent , like a bee drawn to the flowers , you arrive at a little golden fountain—the Acqua d'Oro . The dancing water that pluyed near the singing tree , whereof you read in the Arabian Nights , danced for ever ; but not that nor the fountains of Acrasia or Armida , diffused such delight as this . What is it ? A bank of freshest flowers gathered to a pungent essence—a parterre converted to a portable ecstacy . You recognise each sweet as it grew : but just as each flower dawns upon the perception , the crowded fragrance of the whole smothers it in sweets , and you are too happy to think more . It is the freshest of perfumes—to Eau de Cologne what Ilebe is to Venus .

      Untitled Article

      THE " CHARTIST PllOGHAMMISTS . " [ The following is a letter addressed to the Kditor of the Dundee Courier . la two hours after the questioned article was issued the writer of the letter went down to the office , but , not finding the responsible editor , Mr . llolyoake appeared before him later in the day , as suddenly us an apparition of the Executive , and demanded to know what the editor saw in him that was "hungry , " that he should publish him as a voracious agitator ; and expostulated generally upon the ( assertions of the article . The editor said it wus not intended to bear mi imnututivo construction . In order that such a

      disclaimer might be made to the public , the r «« monstrator forwarded the following letter , which has duly appeared in the said Courier : —] DEFENCE OF THE CHARTIST PROORAMMISTS . To the Editor of the Dundee Courier . Sir , —Being on a visit to Dundee , I had the opportunity of perusing your Courier of this morning , May 14 , in which I find an article on the "Chartist Programme , " about which it concerns me to say a few words , as I am one of those responsible for that document . There is that quality about your article which Lord John Russell ascribes to Thomas Slingsby Duncombe ' a speeches—namely , " an agreeable levity . " If one is abused , it is a consolation to be abused well . One can admire the variegated superficies of the panther even while entertaining a profound aversion to his indiscriminate habit of springing on every person in his way .

      You tell us you " thought Chartism defunct , " and ascribe your mistake to overlooking that there were " too many interested in keeping it alive . " That this "interest" is to be understood as venal , you mark beyond doubt by observing in the next sentence , that " you consider what a flock of hungry patriots have been fed , and how many unattached agitators have received employment , by means of the Chartist movement ; " and . infer , therefore , that "it is not wonderful that an effort should be made to perpetuate such a profitable concern . "

      Now , what I wish to ask is , by what right you represent the Convention here alluded to as composed of hungry agitators and interested patriots ? For myself , what do you know to my disadvantage that you should make no exception ? I have nothing to hope from the Chartists that I should cajole them . I have nothing to fear from them that I should natter them . I am simply an independent servant of them and the public , able to live at the bench , by my pen , on the platform , or in the class-room . And the same is true of my colleagues , as to independent means of existence . There is Thornton Hunt , son of Leigh Hunt , the poet and politician . The same Thornton Hunt who was the playfellow of Shelley , and to whom Charles Lamb addressed verses ,

      and who has realized all the noble promise of his boyhood—whose genius must always command for him affluence , as his integrity always commands for him respect wherever he is known . On what ground do you include him among the " hungry patriots ? " Is the Reverend Mr . Duncanson , of Falkirk , delegate from . Paisley , whom we all listened to with respect , one ? What charge of this kind have you to la ; at his door ? Would you point to Julian Harney ? Certainly venality is not his crime ; for he , to all our knowledge , made as large sacrifices to what he deemed public duty as any editor to whom you can point . Nor can you cite Ernest Jones , who with the precedents of a gentle man , h < s often accepted penury rather than forego the advocacy he deemed most useful to the people . What you may

      think of Mr . Reynolds I know not , but certainly his pecuniary advantages as a Chartist have been confined to paying certain bills as Treasurer when we had a bottomless Exchequer . Will you take those of humble station ? Your townsman , James Graham , lias no other crime to answer for , that I ever heard of , than that of being a working man . As he has appeared us a delegate in London , you assume that he has relinquished his " honourable calling of a weaver . " How does this follow ? If every man who , by delegation , represents others' interests in a distant city , is to be ht Id as deserting hia honourable vocation , many of your fellow-townsmen among the middle class and the religious ministry deserve your instant exposure . Go , sir , through the list of our delegates , and you will in ; ill cases fail to substantiate your imputations .

      Some of the propositions you point out as erroneous in our Programme several of us thought so . The columns of the Leader have recorded how some of us struggled against them . Expose our want of wisdom where you find it , and we are your debtors . But when you deny our integrity—when you paint us as hungry patriots and venal agitators , we beg , respectfully but emphatically , to protest against you ; for if we keep silence in such a case we shall appear to consent to the infamy you impute

      to us . The vice of imputation has been the besetting sin of Chartism , but it may be forgiven to us on account of our inexperience and our privations . But should a middleclass journal set us the example of continuing what we are trying to forget ? If we should say that any middleclass movement you patronise is selfish and interested , you would feel at once the injustice and rudeness of the accusation . And if your own gentlemanly sense of courtesy does not teach you to restrain your imputations against us , the obscurity and helplessness and sufferings of those who appointed us to represent them ought to protect us from rudeness . 1 am , Sir , yours respectfully , Gkoiiok Jacoii IIoi-yoakk , Member of the Chartist Executive .

      Untitled Article

      The Executive Committee of the National Charter Association met on Wednesday . Ernest Jones rend u letter from the Home-office , intimating that , in reply to the petitions presented in behalf of John Frost and others , the answer in question was not intended to convey any such meaning as that they have not been hud before the Quern . It was resolved the first monthly circular Hhould be i « Biied in July , that the HeorutaiieH of tin ; localities should bo requested to furnish information to the general secretary on or before the third Monday in each month of the numbers of members enrolled in their locality , and " » account of the general progresa of the movement in their neighbourhood , together with matters niFecting the intercuts of tho working classes .

      ^&Gt;Ragra;S Tjie ^Raplt.

      ^> ragra ; s tjie ^ raplt .

      Untitled Article

      May 31 , 1861 . ] Cfp « Ht&IStT . 519

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), May 31, 1851, page 519, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1885/page/19/