for most of this gentleman's compositions. Something better than this fantasia is the "Caprice" of Schulhoff, upon three Bohemian airs, two of which are extremely beautiful, and the whole are pursued with the writer's well known subtilty and strength of purpose. WHAT'S A TEAR?—Ballad; by M. W. Balfe. Chappell & Co. GUIDE OUR BARK, Gondolier.-Duet; by G. Linley. Ditto. SWEET HOPE, LIKE A BIRD, ON MY PATHWAY I SEE.-Ballad; composed by G. Linley. Ditto. IBRAHIM PACHA.-Quadrille; composé par Charles d'Albert. Ditto. POLAK NIE SLUGA.-Polish patriotic song; arranged by Captain Francis Stawiarski. Monro and May. BRIGHT AS A BEAM OF THE GLORIOUS SUN.-Sung by Miss Rainforth and Mrs. H. Fiddes; composed by Harriet Fiddes. Ditto. LOVE IS A HARLEQUIN.-Sung by Miss Rainforth and Mrs. H. Fiddes; composed by Harriet Fiddes. Ditto. THE ENQUIRY.-Sung by Miss Rainforth and Mrs. H. Fiddes; composed by Harriet Fiddes. Ditto. THE BAREFOOTED FRIAR.-Words from Ivanhoe; composed by J. Monro. Ditto. IN DREAMS OF PEACE.-Adapted to "In cielo benedetto;" sung by Signor Mario in "I Lombardi." Composed by Verdi. Ditto. As our review has already reached its usual limit, and these last publications only arrived at the moment of our going to press, we are compelled to be brief with them. Of those sent us by Messrs. Chappell and Co., Mr. Balfe's ballad and Mr. Linley's song are the best; the duet, by the latter writer, is not by any means one of his happiest efforts: the subject is more melodious than original, and the treatment not altogether free from common-place and clap-trap. The quadrille by D'Albert is light, pretty, and danceable. The first two of Mrs. Fiddes' songs, published by Monro and May, we can heartily recommend, as a couple of light and agreeable trifles, written with ease, naïveté, and a knowledge of popular effect. The third, however, "The Enquiry," is a poor piece of business enough. Mrs. Fiddes possesses abilities to become, in her way, a popular song writer; but let us caution her against publishing too much. The Polish patriotic song is not without melody, but contains nothing original, or otherwise remarkable. Mr. Monro has embodied the verses given to Friar Tuck at his immortalized repast with the Black Knight, in a quaint, humorous, and characteristic melody, with an appropriate accompaniment. Verdi's song is the celebrated "visione," and being already famous, we will, being pressed for time and space, e'en "Leave it alone in its glory." AMUSEMENTS CITY OF LONDON THEATRE. In these wandering days of the houseless drama-when, like a struggling orphan, expelled from her natural home, and the doors of her inheritance closed against her, she seeks an humble refuge among the former servants of her family, now sheltering for a few weeks in this, and now in that suburban retreat of the unpretending but faithful well-wishers of her houseit is far from an easy task to track her devious footsteps, or to guess in what remote corner her Arab-like tent will next be pitched. Our fathers would have smiled with incredulity, or perhaps sneered with disdain at the thought of the tragic actor of the age flashing his wandering rays over the humble boards of the distant Surrey; and it was with almost equal scepticism that we ourselves read the startling announcement of another, and (except new marriages and births should lengthen the time-honoured line) the last of the Kembles at the misnamed City of London Theatre, in Norton Folgate. Mr. Charles Kemble Mason, a nephew of John and Charles Kemble, true to his family instincts, has made the stage his vocation; but, leaving his native land, has for some fourteen years sought, like the pilgrims of another age, a OF THE MONTH. home on the remoter side of the Atlantic, pursuing the study and exercise of his profession in America and the West Indies, whence he now returns to his own land, to find, in Byron's words, " a desolate hearth, and all his [dramatic] household gods lie shivered round him"-Drury Lane false to her early vows, and her arms open to song and dance alone; and Covent Garden a melancholy nest for rats and spiders! Hamlet was the part chosen for Mr. Mason's début; and if any doubts had been entertained as to his parentage, the first glance at his person would have dispelled them in an instant. There was the strongly-marked Kemble face; the easy but dignified carriage; even the disadvantage of the slightly husky voice: but when the grave scene arrived, and he appeared bonneted and cloaked, it would have required little stretch of imagination to fancy Lawrence's grand picture of John Kemble animated, and stept from its frame. We have said that Mr. Mason's face is boldly featured: it is also highly expressive. His figure, too, is graceful and well-proportioned; his delivery forcible and animated; and his readings bespeak a cultivated and intelligent student of his author. He has, however, yet something both to learn and to unlearn. We could wish, in artistical phrase, rather more tone to the picture a greater harmonizing of the parts, and more of subdued quiet in the unimpassioned scenes. His energy, though never degenerating into vulgar rant, is still a little too unrelieved by nice gradations of shadow; and this is unfortunately a fault likely rather to increase than to diminish with practice at minor theatres, where the rough palate scarcely relishes the dish that is not highly seasoned. He should also divest himself of a too frequent habit of shaking the head, and also of tapping the brow. But these are trifling faults; and much allowance is to be made for the natural nervousness of a first appearance. He has excellent material in him, with the power of communicating forcibly with his audience; and most heartily do we desire for him a fitter and more ample field for his exertions. His reception by a well-filled house was cordial in the extreme; and as the play proceeded, the applause grew enthusiastic, till the curtain fell amidst a very storm of cheers. The rest of the parts were sustained generally with a care and ability equally creditable to the company and the management. Mr. Mason has since played Iago, Werner, Macbeth, Lear, and Virginius, with equal or even increased success. SADLER'S WELLS. We may congratulate the lessees of this theatre upon their successful endeavours to repair the recent loss, in Mrs. Warner, of one of their main supports. On Wednesday, 26th August, the revival of Mr. Marston's play of "The Patrician's Daughter" introduced us to Miss Laura Addison, a young lady of provincial fame, who is said to have not yet numbered twenty summers, and to whom has been committed the difficult task of filling the place of her more experienced rival and predecessor. In person Miss Addison is rather below the middle size, with a complexion inclining to the brunette, and a face capable of expressing deep and various emotion. Her profile is remarkably good. Her acting, although certainly not free from the crudities common to such youthful aspirants to the highest histrionic honours, gives ample promise of an unusually brilliant career. Her conception is singularly correct, both abstractedly and in detail; her chief fault being an occasional want of ease, both of action and delivery. the character with force and truth. Her best scene was that in which she receives from her penitent aunt the confession of the intrigues which have caused the separation of the lovers. Her last scene, in which she dies at the moment of reconciliation with Mordaunt, was inferior to the foregoing only because it was shorter. Miss Addison has since played in the “ Lady of Lyons," which was followed by the revival, on Wednesday, September 16th, of "Romeo and Juliet" according to the original text. Juliet was at once her severest trial and her most successful effort. She gave with equal truth and feeling both phases of the characterthe happy, child-like simplicity of young and hopeful love, and the almost supernatural energy with which Juliet is prepared to meet and vanquish the most powerful and appalling obstacles to the passion that absorbs her being. The famous dialogue from the balcony was delivered with a charming mixture of ease, grace, and naïveté; while the soliloquy in which, before swallowing the drug, she anticipates the horrors of awakening in the tomb, was wrought up through all the gradations of terror to a pitch of energy which elicited a just and enthusiastic tribute of applause. Still, with these and many other excellencies, the faults that we have named were often unpleasantly apparent; but Miss Addison's reception has been most flattering: she has hitherto played to none but crowded houses. Mr. Creswick's Romeo was correct in general outline, but wanted the buoyancy of a youthful lover in the early scenes; while the latter ones were not altogether free from his old fault of ultra vehemence. The balcony scene was his best. Mr. Phelps was the Mercutio, and again surprised us by the versatility of his talents. He seized every point with a gusto of humour which told proportionately with the audience. The description of the mischievous Queen Mab er cited special merriment. The other parts were well filled, particularly that of the Friar by Mr. Bennett, and the Nurse by Mrs. Marston. THE SURREY. One of the chief theatrical events during the past month has been the appearance of Mr. Macready at this house, where he has sustained the characters of Hamlet, Othello, and other parts belonging to the highest walk of the tragic drama. His embodiments of these high ideals have been so often criticised that it is unnecessary to dwell on their characteristics. We are heartily glad that the folks "over the water" have such an opportunity of contrasting great things with small as this engagement must afford them. Indeed, the enterprising manageress seems willing enough to cater to a better taste than that which has so long ruled some of the minor theatres: witness also her engagement, some time since, of the Misses Cushman. And, we have strong hopes that the dynasty of "The Patrician's Daughter" presents us with the struggle between love and the pride of ancestry in the mind of a high-born girl, who is loved by a plebeian with nothing but youth and a noble heart to recommend him. The piece is full of passages of great beauty and pathos, and has two or three scenes of great dramatic power; and the best of these is that in the third act, in which Lady Mabel, the heroine, in a fit of impatient pride, induced by the treacherous misstatements of a relative, dismisses her lover, Mordaunt," Mysterious Assassins" and "Rightful Heirs with scorn. and Wrongful Heirs," with all the paraphernalia Miss Addison gave the leading features of of fourth-rate melo-dramas has passed away, and that of a better order of things is gradually being established, not only here, but at even far inferior houses. LYCEUM. A capital piece has been produced at the Lyceum, and has drawn crowded houses, notwithstanding the month having been September -the proverbially dull season of the year in London, when all the world are supposed to be either partridge-slaying or recruiting health and strength on the coast. A few hundred thousand people, however, do contrive to keep the grass from growing either in Cheapside or Regent Street. "To Parents and Guardians" is the title of the piece to which we allude, the scene being that of a boy's school, and the chief characters being supported by Mr. and Mrs. Keeley and Mr. Wigan. The plot is simple almost to a degree of fragility; but the dialogue is smart and natural, and several scenes are highly effective. Mrs. Keeley impersonates a dashing, daring school-boy. Her husband is her fag. But the acting of Mr. Wigan as the poor old French usher was beyond all praise; and Mrs. Wigan sustained the part of Virginie with much grace and feeling. MR. T. DENHAM'S ENTERTAINMENT. It requires more than ordinary talents and acquirements, besides a juster discrimination of human nature, for any one to attempt to give a faithful rendering of national peculiarities and humour; still more difficult must it be for a Scotchman to give a correct interpretation of the songs of the "Sister Isle." Unheralded, untrumpeted, and with none of the customary preliminary puffs that usher some favoured "Son of the Muses" into public notice, Mr. Denham dropped down among us as it were, like the Log King among the Frogs, and without any adventitious aid in his favour, gave, some few weeks since, a first entertainment at Crosby Hall, entitled by him, Scottish and Irish Song." He is a young Caledonian of pleasant exterior, and possessing a good and emphatic delivery, rising at times to a pitch of passionate earnestness and pathos that carries away with it not only his own feelings, but those of his auditory. To attempt to analyze his entertainment would be fruitless: it was extemporaneous, and we think that was a great drawback to his attempt. His allusion to himself in the beginning was made with a degree of modesty, yet firmness, that was very engaging and winning. His mention of his friend Thom, the Inverury bard, whom we had the pleasure of observing in the Hall, looking hearty and well, and the two anecdotes he related concerning two of his poems, were very interesting. He rendered the old Irish bacchanalian "Cruiskeen Lawn" capitally, and declaimed the fine Scottish ballad, "The House o' Airlie," in a very powerful and impressive manner. His only enemy is his voice, which is at times rough, and requires a little modulation, the result of its defective education; but that will be overcome as he gains more confidence, and becomes more at home with his audience. His success was marked and certain, and we are glad of it. He deserves it as a struggling and meritorious man of talent; for he has invoked the muses of Poetry and Music, and we believe with very fair success. FASHIONS FOR OCTOBER. Travelling dresses, those for les eaux, and the, not lined, and trimmed with guipure fringe: this chateaux or villas of our beau monde, are all kind of trimming, being more solid and less that I have to entertain my fair readers with; for liable to crease than lace, is equally adapted for Paris is even more deserted than it usually is at travelling and for the promenade. The mantelet I shall, however, I think, from the descends only to the knee. The form was three sources I have mentioned, be able to fur-fashionable some years ago. The top is disnish a bulletin worthy of the attention of my readers. this season. First: for the travelling dresses. Robes are composed of Nankin, coutil de laine, or batiste de canton; they are of the redingote form, and for the most part soutachées in the colour of the dress: the corsages are high, round at the waist, with basquines of very moderate depth; the sleeves tight, descending nearly, but not quite, to the wrist, displaying the single bouillon that terminates the cambric under-sleeve. The dress is closed from the top of the corsage to the bottom of the skirt, by small fancy buttons. Chapeaux are generally of paille Lorraine, very plainly trimmed with velvet ribbon. A petit mantelet roulière may be added, but is not indispensable. It is composed of taffeta, posed in bouillons so as to confine it to the shape round the shoulders: they have armholes, and are tied at the throat by a broad ribbon: they are made in different colours. Public promenade dresses for the waters or the sea-side are, according to the weather, those of summer or those of the half-season. The materials for chapeaux and capotes have not yet altered; but the trimmings of several are of the autumnal kind. Crape chapeaux, of the Clarisse Harlowe form, are trimmed with ribbon figured in velvet. The effect is novel, but, I think, too heavy: they are much better suited to Italian straw chapeaux, for which they are also employed. Autumnal flowers have, in some degree, replaced those of summer or rice straw chapeaux; but long curled feathers, shaded in rich hues, are more prevalent. Fancy straw is totally laid aside, with the exception of a few pailles Jardinières, and they are adopted only for morning: they are decorated with ornaments of net work in black velvet, and generally worn over little cambric caps embroidered in light patterns. These caps are of a very simple form; they are cut in three pieces, in a similar style to children's caps. Early as it is in the season, satin, and even velours épinglé begin to be seen in chapeaux and capotes; the most elegant of the former are chapeaux, composed of pale pink satin, and trimmed with point d'Angleterre arranged in a double fall of drapery, one part over the crown, the other partially descending on the brim; the latter fall, extending round the back of the crown, forms a full and rather deep bavolet: the lace is raised at each side by a tuft composed of the beards of pink and white feathers. I have seen also some satin chapeaux, in that rich shade of red called groseille; it is red-currant colour: the trimming, similar to that I have just described, was composed of black lace raised at the sides by loops of passementerie in black and groseille; these ornaments are in open work, and have a very pretty effect. lined with pink or blue taffeta, and generally trimmed with passementerie to correspond. A still more elegant style of trimming is a flounce of the material of the mantelet, covered with another of black lace. A new colour has just appeared, and is expected to be very fashionable for the silk pardessus that our élégantes will adopt for returning to Paris: it is called sable du desert. It is of somewhat redder tint than poussière; it is certainly by no means a pretty colour, but it is a very serviceable one. A number of new materials for autumnal robes have already appeared; moires shaded and glacées, foulards brochés in new patterns, plaided taffetas, poplins, and a variety of fancy silks. I have seen, also, cashmere for robes of a slighter texture than usual, at once warm and light. As to winter materials, all that is yet known of them is that they are expected to fully equal, if not excel, in richness and variety those of several preceding years. Robes de chambre and peignoirs divide the vogue in morning dress. The first are composed of soie de Japan and striped cashmere, and lined with Florence of a full shade of red or yellow. The corsages, high at the back and shoulders, are open in front in a long and narrow V; and the front of the corsage and skirt is partially closed by a new kind of braiding, and nœuds of fancy trimming. Caps are very generally adopted with robes de chambre, though they are not indispensable. Some are composed of cambric, of the shape that I have already described; but they are more fully trimmed; the Valenciennes border is broader, and a wreath of coques of ribbon terminating in a knot with short ends at the back of the crown, encircles the caul. The few capotes that have appeared in velours épinglé are of different colours. Some are trimmed with ribbon of a bright shade of blue: it is called bleu Nemours, bordered with a double heading imitating black blonde lace; a tuft of velvet nenuphar in corresponding colours is placed on one side, and a noud of a novel form on the other. I have no doubt that this style of garniture will be very much in vogue throughout the autumn. Some morning capotes of plain satin and gros d'automne have just appeared; Peignoirs are adopted both in morning dress they are small round shapes, trimmed in a very and for demi-toilette. There is no change in plain style with ribbon only. No decided altera- their form: the majority of those adopted in tion has yet taken place in the shape of chapeaux; demi-toilette are composed of muslins, lined with but there is an evident tendency to a closer coloured Florence, or white barege over a shape than that recently adopted, and I have coloured silk dress, a petit bonnet Malibran is reason to believe that all the various modifica- generally adopted with a peignoir of either kind. tions of the Pamela will be totally laid aside in It is of a round form, papillonné with point the ensuing season. Velvet chapeaux are ex-d'Angleterre, and trimmed with a wreath of pected to appear very early this season; I have, indeed, already seen some of a new colour that is likely to be very fashionable: it is gris d'acier (steel colour); the trimming is usually a cashmere willow plume shaded in the same hue. Pardessus are now decidedly those of the demi-saison; but as yet they afford no actual novelty. The cashmere is beginning to assume that supremacy which it generally enjoys in the autumn; and, indeed, retains during the early part of the winter. Cashmere scarfs will also be a good deal adopted; and there is no doubt that, while the weather continues fine, silk visites and visites-mantelets will continue to be worn. I have seen some of both very lightly wadded. I may cite, as the most remarkable, the visites with half-sleeves, generally composed of taffeta in full colours; they are trimmed with passementerie dentelle laid flat on the edge of the border. I have seen also a few satin mantelets; they are green, deep blue, and grey; they are roses pompons or coques of ribbon. There is nothing yet decided as to the exact forms of robes; but I have reason to believe that redingotes will remain in favour, but that basques and basquines (long and short jackets) will be laid aside. As regards the long ones, I think the change will be for the better, but the short jacket seems to me rather a graceful appendage, and certainly advantageous to the shape. Such of these redingotes as have already appeared are decorated either with buttons or passementerie. A new kind of the latter has just appeared: it is called ruban guipure. It is composed of black silk passementé, and laid on a satin trimming. High corsages will, it is expected, retain their vogue for half-dress robes, that is, they will be in a majority, and made tight with ornaments of passementerie or other kinds not yet determined on. It is only in evening dress that corsages will be pointed. Short sleeves will be adopted, even to redingotes; but long ones will be worn |