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Leader (1850-1860), 31st January 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 116, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      battle and under fire . " Lord Raglan had enjoyed that experience , but it does not appear the medical profession have any great cause to canonize his lordship . It is , therefore , by no means certain that either of the other great commanders "would have displayed any very fruitful gratitude in return for the amputation of their limbs . Incidents of this nature usually leave unpleasant associations , and the skilful operator is regarded "with almost less favour than the unseen enemy -who inflicted the wound . However this may be , it is gratifying to learn that in the Hon . Company ' s service no surgeon who knows bis duty need be embarrassed by the dread of responsibility . " When the public stores are not available , he buys what he -wants , if he can , and bis contingent bill , when forwarded through the proper channel , is paid . " The descriptions of the Indian hill sanitaria are also both useful and interesting .

      Untitled Article

      A NEW ILLUSTRATED SHAKSPEARE . Routledge ' s Shakespeare . Edited by H . Staunton . Illustrated by John Gilbert , Engraved by the Brothers Dalziel . London : Routledge and Co . We have before us the first parts of a new illustrated Shakspeare . The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Love ' s Labour's Lost— -the latter not quite completed in Part II . —are the plays already put forth ; and from these we are enabled to form some judgment of the general character of the issue . And first , to speak of the illustrations ; for , without any disrespect to Mr . Howard Staunton , it is plain that the publishers rely mainly on the pictorial embellishments as the special recommendation of this particular edition . "We are rather ostentatiously informed that " no less than six thousand pounds " are to be spent on the illustrations alone . About twenty are to be assigned to each part , and they are to form " the most perfect Gallery of Shakspearean Portraiture ever yet produced . " These preliminary trumpet notes are rather injudicious . They have the effect of lowering our confidence in the

      proportion in which they were designed to raise it ; and the money which the publishers guarantee to put into the pockets of the designer and engravers is no test of excellence . The woodcuts in these parts , however , are really graceful and elegant ; containing dainty little bits of landscape ( notably , the brigand ' s forest in The Two Gentlemen of Verona , and a wood scene in . Love ' s Labour ' s Lost ) , several well-drawn human figures , an apparently careful reference to costume , and some quaintly fanciful tail-pieces . What we doubt is , whether Mr . Gilbert has sufficient knowledge of human character to give a proper reflex of the marvellously varied world of Shake speare ' s men and women ; and we must wai-n him to be careful lest he split on that rpck which has proved the ruin of many previous illustrators of our great national poet—the tendency to an exaggerated mannerism , suggestive of the foot-lights . We throw out these hints rather as suggestions than criticisms ; and we shall watch with interest , and no doubt with pleasure , the artist ' s progress in his work .

      The typography of this new edition is extremely beautiful , and apparently very correct . _ Mr . Staunton ' s notes are carefully and sensibly compiled ; and the text is not overlaid with comment—indeed , we could occasionally wish for a little more elucidation . There is something , however , unnecessarily punctilious in the distribution of the editorial remarks into footnotes and notes at the end of each play ; the former , again , being divided into those which are referred to by the letters of the alphabet , and those which are indicated by stars , daggers , &c . We must also , by the way , object to a suggestion thrown out by Mr . Staunton with respect to the concluding line of the celebrated description of the laughers in Love ' s Labour's Lost : —

      —— In this spleen ridiculous , appears , To check their folly , passion ' s solemn tears . Mr . Staunton " cannot help believing the line should run— To check their folly ' s jpassion , &c . '" But why ? Surely , the line as it stands is good sense in the first place , and fine poetry in the second . The edition is issued in Monthly Parts , at One Shilling each ; but would it not be as well to complete each play in a single part ?

      Untitled Article

      THE WEDDING GUESTS . The Wedding Guests ; or , The Happiness of Life : a Novel . By Mary C . Hume . 2 vols . J . W . Parker . Two groups occupy the foreground of Miss Hume ' picture ; the one composed of Cissy and her bridesmaids , the other of the bridegroom and his friends . All these people become entangled , one with another , by feelings of unchangeable affection , and there seems no human cause why Horace should not marry Ida , Frank inai'ry Florence , and Bernard marry Helen . Frank , indeed , does marry Florence , but dies of consumption , somewhat hectically described by Miss Hume . Then , Bernard ultimately does marry Helen , but the intorval is full of abysmal looks , piercing glances shot from strange eyes , faces blanched by emotion , foreheads , cheeks , and necks crimsoned by confusion , doubt , agony , and death . And why ? Because Miss Hume , casting about for a reason why Helen should bo so bewildered , and Bernard so miserable , has been so simple as to adopt the old conception—hereditary insanity . Why , we could send to any country library for two or throe novels , in which the hero gnaws his golden link of

      ove in silence and secrecy , because his may be a lunatic's doom . RP T known , also , that Consumption , as a rivet in the machinery of a romance * thoroughly worn out . Nor can it be too emphatically said , that dissolution 1 ? frenzy—inarticulo and de lunatico—areveryimproper materials for the novoV * to work with . It might be imagined that Miss Hume had gone through course of death-bed studies , or taken photographs of * the mentally afflicted % * judge by the slowly-traced story of Frank Littleton ' s decay , and the minnt ° record of the half-maniacal comings and goings on Bernard Huntley ' s fa But Miss Hume is easily relieved from such an imputation , a . hundnfi volumesof fiction were at hand which she could consult for the dia » no of insanity , and the development of consumptive disease . The only serfon question affecting her book is , whether it be readable ?• We warn suck ner sons as may be tempted to try , that it is an unmitigatedly painful and dis agreeable book , with just a simmering sort of interest , spoiled by an inc « s * sant cross-fire of dialogue . In the last chapter , the morbid Huntley and " his magnanimous wife vanish into obscurity . They have been enjoying themselves ; nothing is said about any illness ; Huntley tells Helen a dreatn of garlands and perfume , and radiant little girls and boys :-

      —" Bernard ! " exclaimed Helen , who had long been listening witb more and TOOte rapt attention , and now started forward with , clasped hands outstretched trcmblin > towards him ; " Bernard ! ^ Florence is gone ! " ° " Home ! " returned Mr . Huntley , in a low , soothing voice , bending forward to support his wife in his arms , as fearing the possible effects of agitation on her frame " Yes , Lome ! " murmured Helen , laying her cheek to her husband ' s , while the bright tears fell from her eyes like rain . " Home , God bless her !" " God las blessed her ! " was the earnest rejoinder . " Finis" follows ; and what are we to understand by it ? Miss Hume writes in _ sympathetic ink , and unless the reader be intense eaough , he may have a difficulty about her meaning .

      Untitled Article

      vcyora and builders—Thomas Lane , lato of Birmingham , now of Wilton-lotlgo , New-road , Hammersmith iapanncr — Jakes Wootton , Oxford-street , Leicester builder—IIiciiard Davis , Cardift " , Glamorgan , ship broker and commission n ^ ent—Fiuodeuick Lawson Hanks Sholliold , common browor—Edwakd Von JiAUEi , szKN Liverpool , motal broker—John Gladstone , Liverpool , iionfoundor and uliip and anchor smith—VVhitajckh ]{ jj , ey Manchester , calico prlntov—Wimiam IIiiuky Gakh and " IIknky ltaKDKiuoK Scott , Wallscnd , Northumberland , iron Hiaimfacturors and coko burners—Titos . Laii > j . i : u , Jarrow Durham , coko burner . ' - SCOTCH SEQUESTRA . TION .-Ja . mijb Calohk , Brochiri , Friday , January 30 . rflfM ! ^ ? X T ULLB » ---JonwlJAiiJBY , ofOakon-{^ T ?!? -y > i 7 V ; , l ° T ?? 1 La » c'w ) iiro , cotton manufacturer . UANKltUl'TS , —GuoHajJ Gboom , Norwich , boot and shoo

      factor—James Felt ,, Liverpool , tea denier—John Jones , Proston , tailor—William Dona and John Skki / iw , Nowcastlo-upori-Tyiic , timber merchants—Ednyaub Chowtiikk * Manchester , merchant and commission agent — James Kutchjok , Church-street , Hncknoy , licensed victmiller—John Ados Phuyanogiin , Union-court , Old Uroiid-s lrcot , merchant—Wim-iam Woods , Union-atrccl ; , Southwsirk , hook and oyo maun lucturor—William "Wiiitk , NowOriwc Mill , Shadwell , miller—J'iJMiANoit i ' oimiu , Nowmnrket , Sufl ' olk , grocer—Joseph Thomas Lawjluncis , Sliorwlitch , upholsterer —G-KOugn JIaskkrvali . k , Talk-on-tlie-lini Stufl ' orduhiro , innkcoper—William Bum \ Saint Stevens by Liumccslou , Cornwall , builder .

      FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE . lhtesday , January 27 . BANKRUPTCY ANNULLED . — Henry Kbmassi 1 ? I ^ P ££ ? £ ? j 3-, ' l Lion-street , llolborii , Hour merchant . BANKRUPTS . — Joseph Low , 40 , Broaa-street-buildin B , City , merchant ami commission agent-Maximilian Low ¦ M ) , JJroad-slreot-buildinKH , City , merchant and commission agent— William Whitk , Now Crane-mill , Shadvoll , miller —Join * Atkinson , Quoon ' s-gardeno and Wostbourno-Rrovo , IJaynwator . builder -. John Oonsn , < U , BaninKhall-stroot City , dealer in French china and jowollery—John Uunton Cooium and IIknry Bunton Oooi-eu , r > , IJentloy-placo , KiiigHland-road , Middlesox , pawnbrokers—Andrew Philxirs , Hpuso of Commons-inn , Cambridge licensed vie tualler—Thomas Cook , Thorpo-lo-Sokon , lessen , boot and shoo maker—Jambb Mautin and Kdwin Waukwick , Upper North-strcot , and Round-hill-park , Driichtoii , surl

      Untitled Article

      A family of Howards—not belonging to the Ducail house of Norfolk , but to democratic America—have been performing at the Marvlebone this week in a new version of Uncle Tom ' s Cabin , in which a little girl ( Miss Coiu > i : lia Howard ) performs the character of Eva , and her father and mother those of St . Clair and Topsy . Tho exhibition is wild and peculiar ; and Mr . Emery may claim to have introduced a novelty to London audiences .

      Untitled Article

      BIRTHS , MARRIAGES , AND DEATHS . BIllTliS . , ADAMS . —On the Oth inst ., at Itowney Mundeii , Mrs . Samue l Achuna , prematurely : twinaoiiH , stillborn .

      Untitled Article

      116 THE LEADER . [ Ho . 358 , Saturday .

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      KATHERINE AND PETKUCHIO ON HORSEBACK . The Astxey ' s management is setting a strange fashion in Shakspearean revivals . We have heard a good deal , in theatrical slang , of a new production of Macbeth , Richard the Third , or what not , being ' well mounted " but in the Westminster Bridge-road the epithet indicates an absolute fact . Nay , we might aver that this is the only House in London for Iiigh tragedy and comedy , since the actors and actresses address the audience from an equine altitude not hitherto attained at any other establishment . These centaur-like performersthese ' half horsy ' people—are charging into all our old pedestrian notions of ' the legitimate' at a hand gallop ; they are making a veritable Balaklava onslaught , only with greater success . Mr . Keak , and other painful peregririators shoe leather

      on , -will speedily be obliged to knock / under before this gallant company of histrionic cavaliers ; and , unless Mr . Phelps consent to ' witch Islington and Pentonyille by some ' noble horsemanship , 'we foresee that the denizens of those localities will shortly emigrate to Lambeth . l ? he late Lord George Bentinck . himself had clearly nothing like so stable a mind as Mr . Cooke , —the gentleman on to whose shoulders has descended tie classic mantle of Dctcrow , and who , had he lived in the days of Piato , and set up a seminary in the groves of Academia , would not have taught his pupils while walking , but while riding—inculcating the whole duties of man in a series of hippodramatic scenes- There is no saying to what extent Astley ' s may not revolutionize the stage ; and we therefore advise all our dramatic writers to illuminate their knowledge of the unities by some acquaintance with the mysteries of the manege It is possible that the days of The peripatetic school of the drama , are numbered .

      These few remarks—in which we merely profess to have cantered lightly over a very wide course—have been suggested by the production on Monday evening at ^ Asir-ETr ' s of Katherine and Petruckio on" horseback . We have not yet witnessed it , but promise ourselves great pleasure whenever we do . For the present , however , we cannot help indulging in a few anticipatory remarks . Of course we are introduced to that marriage horse of Petruchio * * , « o vivaciously described by Bumdello as "hipped with an eld mothy saddle , the stirrups of no kindred besides , possessed with the glanders , and like to niose in the chine ; troubled with the Iampa 83 , infected with the fashions , full of windgalls , sped with spa-vine , raied with the yellows , past cure of tne fives , stark spoiled with the staggers , begnawnwith the bots , swayed in the backand shoulder-shotten ; ne ' er legged

      , before , and with a half-checked bit , and a head-stall of sheep ' s leather , which , being restrained , to keep him from stumbling , hath been often burst , and now repaired with knots , &c . " We trust the management has searched through all theknackera' yards and cab-stands of London , to find a steed which shall combine in his one person this astounding complication of all tho ills that horseflesh is heir to . Likewise , Ave take it for granted that the equine incident recorded by Grtimio—the lamentable fall from her Ivorse of Katherine when descending " a foul hill , " the running away of the l > casts , the bursting of the bridle 9 , and the loss of Grumio ' s crupper—will be introduced bodily for the delectation of the audience . If all this be carefully carried out , lot Mr . Kean look to his laurels , and give place next year at Windsor Castle to Mr . Cooke .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1857, page 116, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2178/page/20/