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    SMALL NOVELS . Gil Talhot ; or , Woman ? sManccnvres and Man * s Tactics . By A . M . MniHard . 3 yols . ( Newby . )—With so much twaddle to be had at a shilling a volume , it is astonishing to find Mrs . Maillarcl publishing hers , in three volumes , nominally at the regulation price , 1 / . lls . Gd . Gil Talbot , we believe , is her sixth -work of the same size and quality ; by such is oblivion fed . The heroine , Claris , should have been kept at school , and disciplined with some severity ; GothonTravfinnes , the captain , whose heart is agonised , is simply a suit of regimentals stuffed with straw ; the book , in fact , is compounded of old clothes , old crockery , and broken lay-figures from the storehouses of second-hand and tenth-rate romance .

    Friends of Bohemia ; or , Phases ofLoidon Life . By E . M . Whitty . 2 vols . ( Smith , Elder , and Co . )—The character of this production is best exemplified by the circumstance that its very respectable publishers have apologized for its publication . Wo may regret that they have mot exercised n discretion si inilai" to that which , in a recent instance , resulted in the suppression of a libellous tirade ; but , in the present csisc , sucli a proceeding : might have been superfluous . Pew readers will care for the political oracle ' s of the reporters' gallery , the social " phases" public-house life , the dialogues of shabby cynics sind scribbling Thugs , which make up Mr . Whitty ' s " satirical novel *] ' There is no story ; tlie incidents are disjointed , improbable , and repulsive ; some of the convci-sations are specimens of raw impropriety . The work is at and

    scarcely possible for themost curious of scandal-loving readers to make his way through such a farrago of ignorance and absurdity for the sake of gettinoat the tidbits of insult and abuse . The polities , -we repeat , are the scouring of the Strangers' Gallery ; the life and manners are the life and manners of the back slums of penny-a-liners ; the talk is the talk of pothouses in or near the Strand . No doubt an author may be pardoned for describing the only sort of life he has known , but the general public maybe equally forgiven , for taking a very limited interest in those experiences . As to the ^ author ' s personalities , we do not usually attach much credit to the opinion of their masters which discharged servants are apt to express—especially if they have been , discharged very summarily for gross -negligence and incapacity . There are men who can forget , but never forgive , an obligation : and if

    as Ave have heard , the writer of this dismal book expelled himself from the comparative heaven of London journalism on account of certain eccentricities not appreciated among gentlemen , let us pity lus writhings in the purgatory of provincial insignificance . He . may yet find promotion in Donnybrook until his c Australian Republic' has room for more of those Friends of Bohemia , whom the England of their detestation'will . ' so ; gladly spare . Odisse quein laser is , wo are inclined to believe , would have been a fitting motto to this sorry and malignant trash . ' Western Border Life ; or , What Fanny Hunter Saw and Heard in Kansas and Missouri . (( Low and Son . )—This specimen of the American novel is monotonous , bu . t neatly written . It is special in Its purpose , and , therefore , addressed to a special class of readers .

    once coarse juvenile . No woman will read it through on account of its dulness ; certainly , for other reasonR , it ought to lie on no famil y table . In this strange compound of bile and bad nfanners , there is a foul sprinkling of what is probably intended to bo satirical , but would more properly be called spiteful , allusion to certain organs and perflonages of the London press , to whom , * io doubt , the Author is indebted for a recognised existence . Indeed , these two volumes appear to Lave been written lor the express purpose of relieving an indigestion of malice . Now , this may be diverting enough to the author and to hia select admirers ( the Irish ruffian who limrders his friend and benefactor from behiml a hedge has had his admirers and apologists , and why not this Friend of Bohemia his ?) , but it is

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    THEATRICAL ' NOTES . Morton ' s Cuva for the llmrtuchu—one of the popular comodiea of half a century ago—was revived at Duunv . Lank on Monday , for the purpose of exhibiting Mr . Kkkluvt as Old Rapid , : i sleepy-headed elderly fool , the very antipodes of his name ; Mr . Cha . kl . ks Mathkwb as Yonnp Itnpid , an over-active , vivacious rattles , as rattles . were , or were supposed to be , in the days of our lathers ; Mr . TiuiiriiY as Mr . Vortex , a Nabob of the true stage cut ; Mrs . Kbki . ky as a rustic boy , Frank Oailandn ; and Miaa Ouvkr and Miss Cjl . evki . ani > in two young-lady parts . So excellent a caste gives vitality to an obsolete style of drama . Mr . Dir . r , oir has been performing at the Lvoeum the part of Don Cesar de Bazan , in the « lrama of that name ; and he has also produced another version of tlic French piece Ange et Demon , in which he and Mrs . 1 ) ua . on perform the husband and wife , anil Mr . Toolm tbe part of the devoted servant , exhibiting therein a groat deal of humour , streaked with pathos and truim : power .

    We regret to learn that Mm . Stirling lias been seized with sudden indisposition , and baa been obliged to abandon for a time her part in Mr . Tom Taylok ' s drama , A Stump in Woff ' H ( Jhlhlwj , Mrs . Wioan now appears in the part ; so that Lho piece still goes on .

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    They are not prized by the Chinese for their flavour , but because they supply incomparable " thickening- " for soups and gravies . Captain Osborn ' s book is one that is best described / by quotations . We shall select a few passages illustrative of Indian Archipelago scenery and mariners . This ds a picture of justice as enacted by the Siamese—upon women as well as men : — , One was cooking a human being alive : a hollow tree , either naturally so , or scooped out by manual labour , was left with merely its bare stem standing ; into it a prisoner was put naked , his lands tied behind his back , and a large piece of fat lashed on , his head ; the tree-was then carefully coated withaa unctuous mud , to prevent its ignition , or if it did ignite , that it might merely smoulder , and then a slow , steady fire was maintained rouaid it , the unfortunate victim ' s sufferings being by these means terribly prolonged , his shrieks and ex . clamatio . ns beiug responded to by the exultant shouts of his executioners .

    Another torture "was that of carrying the pirate or rebel down to the banks of a river where a peculiar species of palm-tree grows , and choosing a spot in the mud where the sprout of a young plant -was just found shooting upwards , which it does at the rate of several inches in twenty-four hours , they would construct a platform around it , and lash , their miserable victim in a sitting posture over the young tree , so that its lance-like point should enter Iris body , and bring on mortification and death by piercing the intestines—in short , a slow mode of impaling . Captain Osborn alludes to the practice of smearing people with honey and tying them to trees , near the nests of venomous ants , but he is wrong in imputing it to the Malays alone . It was formerly the habit of the Dutch women in . Java to inflict this torture on any young handmaiden of whom they happened to "be jealous . Here is an Eastern pei'spective , the picture of a bamboo town : —

    It is almost impossible to convey a good idea of the beauty and neatness of abodes entirely constructed of wood , bamboo , and matting ox leaves . Those of Kangah , although far above tlie river , were , according to the constant rule , built upon piles three to four feet high ; possibly this might be a necessary measure for the rainy season , but at that time , when the earth wa 3 baked as hard ; as rock , it seemed an act of supererogation . , They , 'however , were generally oblong in the ground-plan , having a gallery extending along each of the long sides , to which a primitive ladder gave access from the ground . The floor ( for each house was only'one story high ) consisted of strips of bamboo , sufficiently strong to bear the weight , but giving a pleasant spring to the tread ; over these bamboos , which were perhaps an inch apart , and kept so by a tranverse " snaking'" of strips of ratan , neat mats were spread , their number , fineness , and beauty depending upon the wealth of the owner and the skill of his women . The . walls were constructed of cocoa .-nut and other palm leaves , secured with such cunning and neatness as to be perfectly wind and water tight ., and at the same time pleasing to the eye . The roofs were somewhat high and peaked , betokening heavy rains , and with broad , overhanging eaves , which added to the picturesque appearance of the buildings , and remmded me strongly of the " chalets" in Switzerland .

    Lastly , a night chase of a pralm on a river : We were soon on . her heels , and guided by the sound she made in forcing through the mangrove swamp , held aur course : now aground upon tie straddling legs of a mangrove tree ; then pushing through a thicket , out of which the affrighted birds flew shrieking ; then listening to try and distinguish the sound of the flying- canoe from all the shrill whistles , chirrups , and drumming- noises , which render an Indian jungle far more lively by night than by day . Once or twice we thought we were fast catching her , when suddenly our canoe passed from the mangrove swamp into an open forest of trees , which rose in all their solemn majesty from the dark waters . We saw our chance of success was now hopeless , for the scout canoe had fifty avenues by which to baffle us , and terra-firma was , we knew , not far distant . It was a strange and beautiful scene . The water was as smooth as burnished steel , and reflected , wherever the trees left an opening , the thousand stars whicfc strewed the sky : the tall stems of the forest trees rose from this glittering surface , and waved their sable plumes over our heads ; whilst the fire-fly , or some equally luminous insect , occasionally lit up first one tree and then another , as if sparks of liquid gold were being emitted from the rustling leaves . To read suck a book as this is a pleasure .

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    MABCHft , & 8 fS 7 . ] . V- .-. " , TTIHE X . TJI A PSM . 235

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    THE NEW ITALIAN OPERA HOUSE . "¦ Abb we to have a second Italian Opera House ? and , if so , where is it to be ? " are questions which , as the Spring draws : near , the fashionable worldfollowing Parliament into London , sxs Oieron " s elves " follow darkness like a dream "~ is naturally beginning to ask itself . Does Mr . Gyu intend permanently to take up his dramatic abode within the narrow bounds of the Lyceum ? Or will he erect a , new house in Leicester-square , causing " the Great Globe" to " leave not a rack behind ? " Or will he turn Burlington House or Devonshire

    House into temples for the Olympian utterances of Majiio aud Gaisi ? The Times of Monday answers these fond inquiries by a direct negative , as regards Mr . Gke ' s ultimate designs . He will do none of these things . Tor the present season he must , of course , make special arrangements ; but , for the future , he will recall the vanished theatre which , foi more than a century , has made Bow-street as celebrated for classical dramas , of one sort or another , as for police cases and the achievements of the " runners . " lie will still force the aristocracy of the West-end to consort three times a week with plebeian cabbages and democratical potatoes ; and he will make the neighbourliood of the piazzas again resonant iFith the sounds of Italian melod y- JFor—says the

    Times"We are now informed , upon the best authority , that the necessary documents are signed . The Duke of Bedford has ieased to Mr . Gye , for ninety years , not only the ground upon which Covent-g . mlen Theatre stood , but also that which is covered by the Piazza Hotel , together with other tenements in . the rear , extending into llartstreet—tbe whole being equivalent to upwards of an acre of land . The Icuse becomes the more advantageous to the holder from the fact that it is unlettered by . any of those drawbacks , such as renters' privileges , properly boxes , &c , wiu ' eh weighed so heavily on former administrations . The only reservation exacted by his Grace is one private box for his own family .

    " Some few particulars connected with the plan of . the new building in ay not be uninteresting to > our readers . The area of the thoatre will be considerably larger than previously , comprising an enclosure of two hundred and forty feet by one hundred . Tbe roof is to constitute a span of one hundred feet , without any intermediate supports—so that the scenery and stage appurtenances may be removed at the shortest notice , and the -whole interior converted into a vast concert-room . The building is to be entirely fireproof , the timbers being prepared on the fireproof process which ia now adopted in constructing the Government lighthouse , ? . Although the space to bo occupied by the theatre ia necessarily large , it will nut include the whole of the ground comprehended in tlie lease . It is intended to d « votc tho remaining- portion to a flower-market , an the shape of a vast glass bazaar , eighty feet in diameter and two hundred and fifty feet in length , for the exhibition and salo ol' flower * , plants , aud all the objects ami conveniences that incidentally relate to them . This idea was suggested by the well-known Marc ha aux Flairs , which forms one of tlie most popular and agreeable lounges in that city of loungers , Paris . " In the ensuing spring and summer , Mr . Gym ' s company , we believe , will perform at Divuky Lank .

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 7, 1857, page 235, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2183/page/19/