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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.
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sp ^ gg s jjtrsrjs &&araisas 5 E 3 ^ . s 2 ^^ a refusee who had taken shelter with them . . Th ^ SJion of the Druses has been , and seems likely to / em ^ n , a perfect pnzrfl ^ nd ys thought they had none . Others have *»»^ * £ « " }•; EmeterdSentersrand some have suspected them of a kind of bastard ChrisSnity . They tore a religion-its code is before us , translated for the SfSSto . ^ They ^ re neither Mahometans norXhnBtmns ; mnrsc time iuiu xuigusu ... ^ . * m * jj •?•¦«» -- — - — - —— is » : i x ~ but human ingenuity must fail to
deed it is easy to lay what they are not , Soier what they ire . A more extraordinary , extravagant , ^ comprehensible , 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 . YoS meet with thoughts and expressions m it that surprise you by their truth , their beauty , and their poetry , andj ^ t as ^ ou begm to think that the cloud is about to be cleared away and the hght let in to your befogged mind , you are again led into a labyrinth of narrative , precep ^ and reflection so utterly confoied and meaningless , that unmitigated absurdityis the very mildest term applicable to it . If we can imagine a chtffbnmer picking up bits of torn paper that constituted parts of Bibles , Korans , the writings of Greek phUosopbers , Persian poets , Hindoo mythologists , Talmudic rabbis , ana Chinese transcenderitalists , and first shaking all these bits of paper together , «* wi tun taVW them out : iomincr 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 " Kehgious Code" of the Druse * 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 chud than the creed of the Druses . Yet for this religion , in its name and fdr 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 people of the Lebanon , well fit him for the task he has undertaken of making tus better acquainted than
heretofore with this strange nation . ; He has performed his work well , and if not 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 nave corrected the work before sending it to the press , for the author has ^ occasionally a strange , and not very correct way of expressing himseH ^ which may be 1 mputedparUy _ tolong residence away from England , and partly to his youth . According to one passage in his book he can be only twenty years of age . Such being the case , it would be unfair to criticise too closely any errors or defects in the style of a work which displays real ability , research , _ and valuable for the addition
earnestness of purpose- —a work , too , which is 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 areto 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 religion must be very different as taught from what it is as written , or that morality and religion may be entirely independent of each other , and that the former may be Bound while the latter is all mystery or absurdity .
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . The Art of Travd ; or , Shi / is 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 vols . Thomas Bosworth . A Handbook of Proverbs , comprising an entire Republication of Ray ' s Collection of English Proverbs , with his Additions from Foreign Languages , and a complete Alphab etical Index , in which are introduced large Additions , as well qf Proverbs as of Sayings , Sentences , Maxims , and Phrases . Collected by Henry 6 . Bohn . Henry G . Bohn . Indestructibility , One of the 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 of the 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 . Maraden , M . A . R . Bentley . Ballads from Herodotus . By J . E . Bode , M . A . ( Second Edition , with four additional Pieces . ) Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Populati on and Capital ; being a Course qf Lectures delivered before the University of Oxford , 1863-4 . By George K . Rickards , M . A ., &c ¦ . Longman , Brown , Green , and Longmans . Constable ' s Miscellany qf Foreign Literature . Vol . IV . T . Constable and Co .
The You ng Ladies' First French Book , with a Vocabulary qfthe French and English and the English and French of all the Words used in the Book . By R . Allva . Hope and Co . L \ fe cf WUUam Etty , R . A . By Alexander Gilohrist . D . Bogue . A Dozen Pair qf Wedding Gloves—Glove-making without the G . James Blackwood .
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PRINCESS'S THEATRE—LOUIS XL ; _ To say that Casimir Delavigne ' s Louis XL , as adapted by JJr . BourcicauU for the Princess ' s Theatre , is an exceedingly good play , would be an e *« gsef » - tion ; compression has not given it that which was wanting in . ^ "g « ja ^ movement ; while the versification ( for more ' s the pity , it is written rablank verse ) isfar inferior to M . Delavigne's , who at least understood the mechanism of poetry ; but it is put together with a considerable amount of tact , andthe two or three strong situations are worked up-in a very artistic manner . We have no intention of detailing the plot , which is of the slightest ; the object of the author was clearly not to write a drama , but onetfreat character-a detestable king . This part was intended for Talma , who rehearsed it many tunes , but for some reason unknown to us , did not perform it . Ligier inherited it * and haft played it constantly at the Fbakcais , and always with » o «^—^^ X * g » it not so discriminately nor so powerfully as Mr . Kean . Certainly tne readers of the Leader are aware that we have not always expresses 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 un * ^ oniaMA And merited success ; There is a Rreat deal of light and shade * n the part
—transition bits , as it were—and all these are seized upon by Mr . Kean surely , but delicately , in a way that shows not only natural aptitude , but taste ana study . Take as an example the scene where Louis is quietly giving Tristan i'Hermite directions for the murder of the " Burgundian Envoy : " he hears the Angelus , " and immediately turning away from the subordinate cut-throat , commences muttering an Ave , or a Credo--marmottanl ses patendtres— -to the 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 of tone or gesture . We need only add that the minor parts are passably filled : we may particularize Mr . Ryder and Mies Leclerc . . ~ '
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ST . JAMES'S THEATRE . # Although we generally look upon classic revivals as lugubrious shams , we must admit that the adaptation of Aleestis , 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 Aleestis' noble sacrifice , the episode caused by the arrival of Hercules , and Admetus' endeavour to hide the fresh sorrow from bis guest ; it must be admitted that whenever Mr . Spicer ( the adapter ) hat wandered from thegoriginal , he has wandered from pure taste . What would have 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 Aleestis is put upon the stage , the scenery , the appropriate costumes , the music of Gluck . Miss Vandenhofi ; who has so fine a weakness for Greek heroines , was a continual study for the sculptor ; Mr . Stuart ( thanks to padding and cork-coles ) made a very fair Falstaflian 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 versurce 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 .
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From Paris , we hear that M . Scribe ' s new play , La Tzarine , written expressly for Mademoiselle Rachel , was produced at the Th ^ atbb 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 regimes . At all events , she ia 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 , M might have been supposed , Catherine the Second . Madame Emilo de Girardin ' s BcreamingJocrisserie , "Le Chapeau d ' un Hortoger , " still draws all Paris to the Gymnase . This inimitable buffoonery , conceived in the spirit of the finest comedy by the hand of genius that drew tears from half Europe in La Joie fait Peur , was written originally for private theatricals at a Chateau in Normandy . Prince . Poniatowsky > we believe , was to have played . the part of the servant . Here is a success for Buckstono or Keeley . Whether tho Jinesse of the original would not evaporate in translation , is another question : there ifl 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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THE WAR DIORAMA . Those old campaigners , Grieve and Telbin , have recommenced <> P «»^ » U £ the Gam * RT of fixusWrioN in Regent-street . « The war that teuwj did fan ^ to keep the popular demand for warlike exhibitions up to a * ri *™** Z Savtoi Pitch , his bee ^ a more exciting topic since the closing of the diorama , of Kef ? n & Baltic and Black Sea . * Still we cannot help P *^«>** £° : iSeTthe best of the scenes in the old diorama ( which still doj duty uv the , new ) tothe representation of moving accidents by flood and field , which make » wither fel thTabsence of motion . The views of Sebastopol , Constantinopj ^ Cronstadt and St . Petersburg , are not only better , considered as workaof at * but t £ ^ are , in our belief , more effective with the mass of spectators than are thesSs ^ t th e battle of Alma , and the latest addition of the cavalry-chiKge at Bateklava . These have the fault which we have observed in all pictures of the kind—excessive violence without real force .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 20, 1855, page 68, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2074/page/20/
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