doors, and the cricket-ground, the bowlinggreen, the bathing-place, and the promenade without, are amongst the means to the great end this clergyman and scholar has in viewthe elevation and enlightenment of the people. By slow degrees these dreams of the wise and good are gradually working themselves out; and we doubt not that the eloquent persuasions and practical assistance of such men as the Vicar of Nafferton will materially help the consummation of that period, when intelligence shall be as wide-spread as humanity, the poor redeemed from the brutality of ignorance, and labour sweetened with many a bright hour of menta and physical enjoyment. BEAUTIES OF THE SACRED POETS; A CYCLOPEDIA OF SACRED POETICAL QUO TATIONS. Edited by H. G. Adams.-(Groom bridge and Sons, 5, Paternoster Row.)—The idea of this work is by no means new: it is a natural offshoot of the "Cyclopædia of Poetical Quota tions," of which Mr. Adams was the editor; but the passages which illustrate the various headings are well chosen and arranged; and as a work of reference to sacred poetry it will prove very useful. C. A. W. AMUSEMENTS OF THE MONTH. During the past month, another adaptation of the comédie vaudeville produced last winter at the Théâtre du Gymnase, under the title of "Un Fils de Famille," has been brought out at the PRINCESS'S, and re-entitled the "Lancers." We noticed in our last number the appearance of the same piece at the ADELPHI. The present adaptation, by Captain Leicester Vernon, M.P., differs very slightly from that of Mr. B. Webster; the story and its situations are the same; the only difference is in the names and the dialogue. It would be invidious to draw comparisons between the acting of Walter Lacy and Leigh Murray, in their rival_impersonations of the same character (the "Lancer" Jolicœur, and the "Discarded Son" Albert Blondel). These gentlemen of the stage appear to us to run a sort of neck-and-neck race in the perfection of their art; so much so, that after witnessing both performances, it seemed rather a matter of taste than judgment on which to bestow the palm. In the rest of the characters, as well as in the general business of the stage, a broad line of demarcation separates the style of entertainment at the two houses. For a hearty laugh commend us to the ADELPHI; for an evening's elegant entertainment let us sit within the carved and gilded walls of the PRINCESS'S. At the latter house we miss the irresistible comicality of the Keeleys, and the burly humour of Paul Bedford, whose broken English and Dutch phlegm as quarter-master Schnapps would burst the hairbelt of an anchorite. But Mr. Mellon's troopserjeant, Major Moustache, is admirably conceived, and its genuine warmth and kindness make his attempts to screen the Lancer from the Colonel's (Mr. Ryder's) animosity quite touching. Mrs. Winstanley, too, as Madame D'Aplomb (the Colonel's sister), finely represents the character; her faith in her "brother the Colonel," and the propriety of military discipline, is unbounded; but she never sinks the courtly lady in the coarse manners of the camp. Her looks convey command; and the firmness expressed by the folding of her hands behind her back, is quite Napoleon-like in resolution. Mr. Ryder's interpretation of the Colonel's character is a careful piece of acting: there is no vulgarity in his roughness: while Miss Carlotta Leclerq's Estelle Duvernay is graceful and interesting in the extreme. In short, a certain refinement pervades the play and its working out, as represented at the brilliant little PRINCESS's, its sentimentality being heightened at the expense of its comicality; while, for persons of less fastidious taste, nothing can be more attractive than the role of the same performance at the ADELPHI. Mrs. Keeley as a military Martinet is perfection: she handles her fan as a field-marshal might his baton, and in their relative positions, the command which she exercises as the Colonel's sister towards her husband (Trumpeter Dux) is most amusing. Of Miss Woolgar's acting we shall say nothing: all who know how artistically this lady studies her characters, will be prepared to find her Adeline de Belrose no exception to her general rule. Mr. Selby, in whom we recognize (not for the first time) a careful and judicious actor, played the Colonel with much spirit. A new farce, called "Whitebait at Greenwich" (of which, by the way, there is as little as possible), appears to be immensely persuasive in cramming the house at half-price. This, too, is of French origin, and abounds in preposterous situations and impossible incidents; but it creates no end of laughter, diversifies the entertainment, and allows ample scope for Mr. Keeley's appreciation of comic effects to realize itself. At the LYCEUM, a "Nice Firm " affords the author (Mr. Tom Taylor) capital sport, at the expense of that be-wigged and powdered body of the population, the lawyers. We trust, for the sake of those who have business with the profession, that the firm has no other existence than in the brain of the author, and on the boards of the Lyceum; if otherwise, clients are much to be commiserated. Messrs. Messiter and Moon (Charles and Frank Matthews), though partners in business, are the very antipodes of each other-the one Mercurial very! arriving to the point with the rapidity of a shot to its subject; the other slow, nervous, and muddle-headed. Between them their clients get, The HIBERNIA, Regent-street.—We are delighted to return to this very charming entertainment, which, on each occasion of our making part of the audience, has appeared more and more deserving of praise. The repetition of the subject has enabled Mrs. Gibbs to overcome the difficulty which the assumption of the Irish accent at first interposed; and the archness of her looks and sweetness of her tones admirably second the effect of the very prettiest exotic brogue we have ever listened to. Pathos and humour are admirably blended in the anecdotal part of the entertainment; while the eye is delighted with some of the most exquisite views (exquisitely painted) by Charles Stanfield James, of the hitherto little known, but lovely scenery of Ireland. The Lee, near Black-rock CastleGlengarriff, with the peak of the sugar-loaf rising above its wild paradise of rocks and hanging CONFERENCE AT BIRMINGHAM DECEMBER. Three flounces of gothic guipure are placed one above another on the mantelet, at unequal distances. THE TOILET. (Specially communicated from Paris.) COSTUME FOR The first costume is composed of a gown of a rich thick green silk, called gros de Tours, with three deep flounces à disposition, having little stripes in satin reps. The body is made high, with basques, closed with emerald buttons mounted in gold claws. On each side of the trimming, and round the basques, are little stripes in reps, similar to those on the flounces. Sleeves Louis XIV., composed of two puffings, with striped frills, forming a pagode below the elbow. Pelisse in black velvet; the back-piece square, falling on the shoulder; trimmed with black feathers, and fringe half-silk half-feathers. bow of watered ribbon fastens the pelisse at the throat. Capote bonnet in groseille velvet and black lace: in the interior white camellias, and knots of black and groseille velvet. Light grey gloves. Boots in green moire (or watered silk), with little heels. A The second costume is a gown in pearl grey moire antique; the body with a corsage d'Agnes Sorel, that is, a corsage, without being a basque, passes the hips like the corselets of the moyen âge. The front of the corsage rather low at the top, and squared It is trimmed with grey feathers. Sleeves, Anne of Austria, opened above and below the arm, trimmed with feathers. Capote of white satin and blonde, with a deep fall of blonde falling from the edge of the brim, and forming a voilette. In the interior a monthly rose, with crape foliage. Mantelet in blue velvet, trimmed all over with ruches of ribbon in moire antique. The front of this mantelet resembles the cardinal pelerine: it is squared behind. The third toilette is a gown gros de Tour groseille-a sort of deep crimson shot with black. The body, opened in front in a heart-shape, terminates with basques slightly gathered. The opening of the body, and round the basques, are trimmed with stars of velvet and Chantilly lace. Sleeves, à la Duchesse, have on each side of the seam three rows of stars in black velvet, and terminate with two frills of Chantilly lace. Manteau in dark-brown cloth, with two capes, bordered with a velvet trimming of a double Etruscan pattern. The second cape forms the sleeves, which are loose and wide, like Turkish sleeves. Capote of deep-blue velvet, covered all over with rosettes of straw lace. A quilling of black lace turns round the rosettes at the edge of the brim, and forms a border. Gloves pearl grey. Bottines in black moire antique. Basques are in fashion more than ever, and are worn deeper than last year. There is a great variety in the forms of the sleeves; those with bouffantes (or puffings) are generally adopted. Sometimes they have but one very large puffing, with two little flounces, going off in the pagoda shape below the elbow: sometimes they have two or three little puffings, and these are called à la Lavallière; sometimes they have crevés (or openings), through which the white undersleeve appears. THE GARDEN.-DECEMBER. "All out-door work Now stands the waggoner with wisp-bound feet, Objects well known, now faintly recognized. Formless, the pointed cairn now scarce o'ertops With stooping heads turn'd from the storm, the flocks, The smothering drift; while skulking at a side And makes approaching night more dismal still."-GRAHAME. Nature, just now, divested of her beauty, sits down disconsolate-a widow in her weeds; or like another Niobe, with all her children fallen and dead around her, weeps rain and fogs and vapours on the earth. Auriculas. The recent frost will be found to hasten the decay of the declining foliage, and generally carries it off in a moist or melting state, which, if allowed to remain any length of time, often affects the plant, and more particularly so when moist weather succeeds. Pick it off clean, and if a red liquid remains, sprinkle a little silver sand, mixed with finely-pounded charcoal, over it: this will stop decomposition and dry up the liquid. Still continue to give air and light as often as fine over-head; see that none of them are distressed for want of water; by no means allow them to droop from drought. Carnations and Picotees.-These plants will also need a clearing of spent foliage, if not already done. Moisture must not be withheld, if getting dry and mild rains should be falling, as the plants enjoy it in preference to watering with the pot; it is more natural, and certainly more beneficial to those hardy plants that will survive our hardest winters outdoors. Moisture is so essential for the health of carnations and picotecs at this season, that, if kept too dry, the foliage turns white and hangs supine, while it will be found that the stems have withered: still the medium must be observed, too great a quantity will also prove injurious, and more so when there is not good drainage in the pots. Pinks. If a dry day or two should occur during the week, take the opportunity of pressing the soil about the stems of the plants; but leave it open between the rows. Pansies.-Look over the beds of young plants, and draw the soil round the stems; and if any are looking injured cover them with a glass. Let it be raised on the south side, as it will not do to cover them close. Tulips.-Planted bulbs are quite safe at present, except from the trespasses of cats, where the netting attended to for fear of accidents. In close neighbourhoods this should be is not up. Dahlias.-Those who had taken up the Dahlias prior to the recent frost are fortunate. It has been severe; and being followed by wet, will add still more to the injury. The crowns that have swelled up near the surface have been in danger, and perhaps many will ultimately perish in consequence. Plants not yet out of the ground ought not to be cut down, unless the roots are immediately following taken up; for, while left, they tend in some degree to keep the root warm. It is bad to store roots while saturated with wet: if it can be done before finally putting them away, a partial drying will prove serviceable for the present an airy place will suffice, so that it be out of the reach of frost; under an open shed, for instance, where they may receive the draught during the day, and be covered temporarily at night: this will be better than storing them in a close cellar or tool-house. CORRESPONDENTS. "Y. S. N."-We entirely believe our correspondent; nevertheless, the subject of her last prose translation had appeared some months previously in the pages of a coteinporary journal-which we only discovered too late to prevent its appearing in our own. We are too much obliged to our correspondent to find fault willingly. "L. E. L., Bishopwearmouth."-We regret that we are not able to avail ourselves of this lady's last contribution. "M. E. H."-If the article referred to be gratuitous, we shall have great pleasure in finding space for it shortly. 66 Accepted: Eudora." Declined, with thanks: "Julia," and the translation from the German. "A. E. L., Scarborough."- The Editor has no such MS. on hand. If amongst rejected articles at the office, if stamps are sent, it will be forwarded to the author's address. Printed by Rogerson and Tuxford, 246, Strand, London. |