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    pastoral , and is no more than it pretends to be , « a running stream through a fine country , singing , as it goes , the praises of i ts scenery , and of the happy life which a happy natured man may lead and find there . To sympathizing readers , this will be something ; to unsympathizing readers , nothing . As they please . "

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    FAIRY . LAND AT THE LYCEUM . IjAST week you were informed , in brief and somewhat enigmatical manner , oi my deep seclusion "in the still air of delightful studies ; " I was alone With my folios—companioned by The Fathers ! Those mysterious characters , of which Fanny complains , were meant to tell you that . Basil was apeaking to me in somewhat inelegant Greek of the advantages to be derived from the study of Greek writers—if I have not gained all the wisdom there awaiting me , I am willing to suppose the fault was mine : perhaps I did not come " prepared with the due humility of spirit , " and receptivity of intellect ! Whatever the cause may be , certain it is that when Fanny , with the dovelike eyes , declared t must take her to the -Lyceum to see the Christmas piece , I quitted my folios with immense alacrity !

    I must borrow hyperboles to express something of the admiring delight with which we witnessed the Good Woman in the Wood ; ordinary epithets have so lost their value by the prodigal use made of them in criticism , that to speak within bounds would be speaking coldly and inaccurately ; the Greeks would have boldly spoken of the Jlabbergastuality of this piece , but our poorer language is denied those reaches of genius ! The liYCEUM itself affords no standard of comparison . Never on any

    stage was there a scene of such enchantment and artistic beauty as that which concludes the first act of this piece , the Basaltic Terminus on the borders of Lake Lucid . To say that in the long summer afternoons of reverie-peopled boyhood one had dreamed of fairy-land like this , would be to say that the wide-wandering fancy of a boy was equal to that of a Beverly ; but Beverly is the fairy ' s own child ; he must be a changeling ; his childhood was spent among those regions , and now , in his serious and laborious manhood , the dim remembrances of that far-off splendour haunt his soul .

    The pansy at his feet Doth the same tale repeat : Whither is fled the visionary gleam ? Where is it now , the glory and the dream ? Where is it P In his artist soul ! and ever and ever does that soul strive to re-create it to the eye . There lies the mystery of that pale delicate face ! " Trailing clouds of glory , " he moves amongst us , environed by mystery , because he cannot

    Forget the glories he hath known , And that imperial palace whence he came ! He is sad , thoughtful , pale , dejicate , because of Those shadowy recollections Which , be they what they may , Are yet the fountain-light of all his day , Are yet a master-light of all his seeing . The fairies have had millions of worshippers , hundreds of poets , and one supreme artist , and that artist is William Beverly ! In this Good Woman in the Wood there are several beautiful scenes , and the last scene —always a Lyceum marvel—is as marvellous as anything which former years have shown us ; but , to my mind , the highest reach of scenic art is that closing scene of the first act .

    The piece itself is better than usual , everywhere agreeable , often funny as well as fairy-like , with some capital writing—neat , easy , punning , and epigrammatic ; several excellent songs and concerted pieces ; an exquisitely grouped ballet , witli Rosina Wright , the first of English dancers , moving amid the groups in her bright graceful witchery ; costumes of perfect taste and varied splendour , and , as I hinted before , a general jlabbergastualiy , not expressible in moderate English . I laughed , I applauded , I shouted inordinate " Ohs I" of breath-suspending admiration ; and demeaned myself , generally , like a boy at his first play , instead of the languid critic , " used up" by seeing so many pieces with " nothing in them . " . Don't oxpeot mo to tell you anything of the piece . Enough it J say how actedMadame Vestristo how acted cbuihto

    Low nWmincr it was and excellently . , how charming it was and excellently , mauamo v -, whose taste tho public owes so much ( uud cheerfully acknowledges the debt !) had a capital part in Dame Goldenheart , and played it as if she liked it . She was in wonderful voice . Julia St . George improves with ovory new part , though I must whinper a word to 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 mast ) . Miss Robertson inado her first nppearanco , and a very pretty appearance she made , . so jib to justify and her sweet voice

    Prince Almond ' s passion both by her tweet looks . Miss Wyndham made a very pretty princess , and Miss tfglinton a seduetivo priiico . A word also for Miss Ellis , who looked queenly , and played n small part with tins nicest possible discrimination . . Frank Matbows as . King Bruin was perfect : bis savage tragedy , his dignity , and bis terror , kept tho house " roaring- " The tone was consistent , and kept within the bounds of burlesque . Altogether I declare I buvo not seen such a fairy pie « o as this . The triumvirate— Vestris , Planche " , Beverly ( let no classical gentleman raise bis eyebrows at the vir )—have opened Fairyland :

    who is there will not take a peep P LEO TILK THRRIHLE attracted mo on Tuesday . It was perhaps unfair to any piece to « eo it , ifter tho Good Woman in the Wood , but thai I couldn t help . I here is some side shaking fun in Uo the Terrible , and some puns so sublimely bad that they extort shouts of amazed mirth ; there arc also some pointed lines ¦ but tho burlesque , as a wholo , moves heavily ; there is too much douKU in this Christmas pudding , and tlie citron , Bjm-es , plums , and spirit , should have boon more liberally bestowed to make that dough digeatiblo .

    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 my ideal of a captivating tenor ! On the other hand , only imagine Keeley as a Jolly Tar ! Keeley shivering his timbers 1 Keeley dancing the hornpipe ! Keeley as one of our wooden walls ! It is worth going mile 3 to see . There he i £ , in the approved T . P . Cooke costume , aliquantumventrosius , to speak with Plautus , " greatly ventripotent , " with a pigtail reaching nearly to the ground , looking iike 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 . Buckstone grotesque as usual m

    the small part of a brigand chief . , The idea of a Reinecke Fuchs burlesque , which is hinted in this ieo 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 , All 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 Woodin ' s 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 cajout puer ( the coxcomb !) together with sketches of the young gents who come courting bis 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 the pantomimes , I turned the generous enthusiasm of a young and ingenuous artist to account . He has just come up to London ; to him I confide the Pantomimes !

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    A WEEK OF BOXING-NIGHTS . As it was ten years since I had seen a London pantomime , I was easily persuaded by my cousins , at whose 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 Yivian's . " How d ye do , old fellow ? " he cried , in bis loudest and gayest manner , as soon as he saw me . " Merry Christmas , &c . How have you left ' em all at homer ' What are the latest accounts from the flood districts ? Sit down , sit down . You don't smoke , I think ? " said he , slyly . He remembered how I didn't . .. _ '

    " I am staying with my aunt at Ball ' s Pond , Vivian , " said I , when we had exchanged salutations . " The girls have been asking me—you know Miss Brown , I believe P—to take them to one of the pantomimes . Which house should you recommend ?" " You want free admissions , you sly dog , " he answered , " and would prefer choosing for yourself . Come , now , what do you say to going officially to all the pantomimes P You write a little , you know . Those things you sent us up some wcekR ago are still under consideration at the ofhee . Fact , I assure you . Well , will you give one a lift with the theatres this

    week or not , eh r . T " Vivian , " said I , " count on my friendship . " The fact is , 1 was transported with the notion , and only afraid of bis retracting bis proposal . " Say no more , my dear fellow , " 1 exclaimed , grasping bis hand warmly . " It shall be done , depend on it . I'll go everywhere . Give mo the tickets , aud not a night will I miss till I ' ve soon all . Adieu I And sure enough I was off ' , with the whole pack of playhouse cards buttoned up

    snugly in tho side pocket of my groat-coat . _ ,. ., It did not strike me till I bad got back to Ball ' s Pond , where I felt tho necessity of composing my mind , thai there were but lour nights available for my purpose . On those four nights , therefore , it would be my duty to see the four best pantomimes , as far us I bad any means of judging what wore likely to be the best . Having stated the case to Miss Brown and her sisters , we consulted upon the choice of theatres . Drury Lane , badler ' s Wells , the Olympic , and tho Adelphi , were decided on , each theatre by one of the four Miss Browns , who consented to go with mo in turn . Thus it happens that I give an aieeount , from personal observation , of lour pantomimes , and confess myself indebted to the daily journals for all 1

    have to tell about the rest . . . . . I find a little dUHeulty in separating the four pantomimes which . 1 have seen and which aro all so wonderfully alike in point of construction . J . find , when I try to think of Whittmgton , or Charles the heeond , or Hudibras and Old Dame Dunlen—tho Olympic pantomime of Jtom * and Juliet alone retaining its distinctive , ^** »\ . m" ; * Y ™ v \ £ h « Old characters appear to bo dancing a kind o country dance in wh ch Old Rowley" and the fair Ali . e , Pick , and Nell < vvymu , frm- lJudibiaa aod Mrs . A » y » . Hugh Fitzuarnui and tl , « wakeful lacly o io <>¦ ^ P °£

    spirits-Antiquity and Improvement-who . contend in one oi those bewildering scones which are always called " Abodon , though they are the very last places where anybody but » watchman would dream o paafcng a siiJle night . But without attempting to unravel tho fltory , lot mo Bay that the masks of this pantomime might uave boon designed by John Leech , that tho oponin * scones arc lull <> 1 unexpected point-and fun and that if tho harlequinade , taken on ita own morits , rather lallb oil in these

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    Jaottary 1 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 2 *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 1, 1853, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1967/page/21/