axe to the root of the foul parasites that are choking and destroying the noble tree, to break off the incrustation of its centuries of evil, and bring to light the sparkling gem whose radiance they have so long hidden and concealed." To the purport of much of which we assent: but what is the first step? THE very pretty chorus of ministers in Mr. Clay's comic opera Cattarina at the Charing Cross Theatre may be taken by way of compensation for the absence of ministerial affairs in Mr. Herman's play, Jeanne Dubarry. The comedy is poor stuff, and bears much the same resemblance to art that the Countess Dubarry's writings bore to literature. The principal character is sustained by Miss Edith Lynd, an actress of little experience, who, if she failed to realise the accepted conception of La Belle Bourbonnaise, was at least true to that part of the song which tells us that she was "fort mal à son aise." No one who loves the gossamer fancies of Halévy, Boieldieu, and Auber, will miss the singularly complete series of performances of French comic opera that is now being given at the Gaiety Theatre. Halévy is seen at his airiest in the famous Mousquetaires, and if Boieldieu failed to endow the Dame Blanche with all the weirdness that M. Sach could have wished, yet the musician contrived to surround his work with a fascination that almost every Sunday night draws to the Opéra Comique at Paris an unwearied throng of enthusiasts. M. Tournié and Mdme. Priola are presently to appear at the Gaiety. "THE performance of The Merchant of Venice," says the delightfully honest announcement of the Prince of Wales's Theatre, "having failed to attract large audiences, the play will shortly be withdrawn. During the preparation of other works, for which arrangements have been completed, Lord Lytton's comedy, Money, will be revived." Mrs. Bancroft and Miss Ellen Terry will perform in it. Andréa, by Victorien Sardou, was produced at the Opéra Comique Theatre on Thursday night for the representations of Mdlle. Hélène Petit, of the Odéon. ON Saturday, May 29, a drama adapted by Mr. Clement Scott from the French of M. Eugène Manuel, and called The Detective, will be produced at the Mirror Theatre. MR. ALBERY'S Comedy is to be performed at the Olympic Theatre on Monday next. VERDI'S "REQUIEM AT THE ROYAL ALBERT Ir is not often that two musical events occur was first performed in the church of St. Mark at not merely full of beauty but perfectly new; it may indeed be said of the entire work that it is thoroughly original from the first bar to the last. The "Dies Irae" is set in nine movements, severål of which are of very remarkable power. The opening chorus may be, and probably will be objected to by some as ultra-dramatic; it certainly is a most forcible representation of the "Day of Wrath," which in sentiment (though in nothing else) may be compared with the The first announcement that the composer of corresponding portion of Mozart's "Requiem." Rigoletto, the Trovatore, and Traviata was writing At the "Tuba Mirum" Verdi has followed the sacred music naturally took musicians by sur- precedent of Berlioz in his "Requiem" of placing prise. This was Saul among the prophets with additional trumpets in the corners of his orchestra; a vengeance! The greatest curiosity was naturally and the effect of the different groups answering felt as to what would be the result; because at one another, though certainly dramatic, is exfirst sight the idea of Verdi's writing a "Re-ceedingly fine. A short and expressive bass solo, quiem" seems nearly as incongruous as it would "Mors stupebit," leads to a most beautiful mezzobe to imagine Shakspere writing the "Christian soprano solo and chorus, "Liber scriptus," one Year." And it may be allowed at once that the of the gems of the work, at the close of which a work has very little of the character of what is portion of the opening chorus "Dies Irae" is commonly called "sacred music." This, how-repeated. The following trio for two soprani and ever, raises the general question, Is there any tenor, "Quid sum miser," is of most exquisite broad line of distinction which can be laid pathos, the modulation near the close from G down between what is sacred music and what minor to G major being particularly beautiful. is not? There is more than one reason why this At the "Rex tremendae" again (quartett and question should be answered in the negative. Of chorus), a fine opportunity is given to the comcourse there are certain musical forms which poser, of which he has availed himself to the from their associations are distinctively secular. utmost. The declamations of the chorus are Had Verdi, for example, introduced into his answered by the entreating tones of the soloists at Requiem a waltz or a polka (to put an ex- the "Salva me, fons pietatis" in a manner as treme case), its inappropriateness would have beautiful as it is fresh. We next have a very been self-evident. But with such exceptions it charming duet for trebles, "Recordare," and a most seems impossible to draw a hard and fast line original tenor solo, "Ingemisco," to which sucbetween sacred and secular music. Nobody would ceeds a bass air, "Confutatis," which is by no nowadays dispute the claim of Beethoven's Mass means equal to the preceding numbers. Here in C to be called sacred music; yet is it not more Verdi's inspiration seems for once to have failed than probable that if Palestrina, or even the him; he has moreover introduced (evidently of Italian church composers of the last century, could malice aforethought) some consecutive fifths in have heard it, they would have condemned it as the accompaniment of the song, the effect of which utterly un-sacred in character? Again, the two is simply distressing. That the rule of the theorists greatest composers of sacred music whom the forbidding consecutive fifths may sometimes be world has ever seen were Bach and Handel; and violated with impunity, and even with advantage both of these repeatedly introduced pieces from has frequently been proved by modern composers; their operas or secular cantatas into their sacred but the effect must be the justification of such works, yet no one finds fault with these pieces as passages, and in the present instance they are inappropriate. In justice to Signor Verdi, also, it certainly not justified. At the end of the should be added that in Roman Catholic countries air a fragment of the chorus "Dies Irae" is the distinction between sacred and secular music again introduced, leading to the "Lacrymosa," is much less marked than with ourselves. It is which is written for quartett and chorus. Here no uncommon thing in a Catholic church to hear is another genuine inspiration, on which, did space an operatic overture played as the voluntary after allow, much might be written. It must suffice service. This is not mentioned as a desirable or to allude to the novelty of the vocal combinations, becoming thing; but it ought to be borne in mind to the charming phrase for unaccompanied solo in forming a judgment on a work differing very voices at the "Pie Jesu," and to the remarkable largely from the conventional models of church modulations at the close of the chorus. The key of the piece is B flat minor, and the voices conclude in G major, the orchestra alone giving the final chords in B flat major. music. 66 It has been needful to say this much by way of preface, because some critics have condemned this Requiem" as too dramatic in tone; and the only fair way to look at it is to place one's self at the composer's stand-point, and not to estimate his work by comparison with the two generally accepted models of the Requiem-those of Mozart and Cherubini. That Signor Verdi's is not sacred music in the narrow acceptation of the term must be conceded; but it is a work of high and genuine inspiration, often most powerfully touching the feelings, and characterised throughout by deep earnestness, though addressing itself to us in a somewhat unfamiliar language. 66 Anything like a complete analysis of the "Requiem" in these columns would be out of the question; neither, indeed, would it be readily intelligible without the aid of musical quotations. A brief notice of some of the salient points of the work is all that will be possible. The opening movement, "Requiem aeternam," in A minor, is of remarkable beauty; the first part for chorus pp accompanied by the muted strings is certainly as funereal as could be desired. A charming effect is produced by the modulation into A major at "et lux perpetua." At the "Kyrie" the solo voices are introduced, first alone and then in combination with the chorus. The whole of the music is The offertory "Domine Jesu Christe" is written for solo voices only. It is extremely pleasing, and charmingly scored for the orchestra, but, excepting at the "Hostias et preces," it scarcely rises to the height of some other parts of the work. Its thoroughly vocal character, however, and the flow of its melody are sufficient to ensure its popularity. The "Sanctus" is a double chorus in eight real parts, in which Verdi for the first time in the work attempts the strict fugal style. He does not, however, seem at home with it, and soon abandons it. This number must be pronounced one of the least successful of the Requiem. The following movement, "Agnus Dei," a duet for two soprani with chorus, is, on the contrary, not merely one of the finest movements in the work, but one of the most original pieces of music ever composed. It is written in a form seldom if ever before employed in sacred music-the variation form. The theme is first given out by the two solo voices unaccompanied, and singing in octaves, with a perfectly novel effect, and then repeated by the chorus and strings in octaves without harmony; after which it is met with sometimes for soli, sometimes for chorus, each time with a different accompaniment. No description, however, can give any notion of the effect of this extraordinary movement, and even the reading of the vocal score conveys but a faint idea of the impression it produces in actual performance. The "Lux aeterna," a trio for mezzo soprano, tenor and bass, also contains some very remarkable music. The passage "Requiem aeternam" contains an accompaniment for a pp. double roll on two kettledrums tuned in fifths, which is very new. Beethoven was the first to use the two notes of the drums at the same time (in the Adagio of his "Choral Symphony "), and Berlioz has in his "Requiem " employed chords for several drums at once; but Verdi's effect differs from both. The final number of the work, the "Libera me," is for soprano solo and chorus. The solo is for the most part grandly declamatory in style, especially at the passage "Tremens factus sum ego et timeo." The first part of the chorus is mostly founded on the subjects from the "Dies Irae; a portion of the opening movement of the mass is then introduced for unaccompanied voices with excellent effect; after which Verdi introduces an elaborate fugue on the "Libera me, Domine," and (like Rossini in the "Stabat Mater") succeeds in proving that fugue writing is not his forte. The quiet close of the movement, and of the work, when the composer returns to his more natural method of expression, is of great beauty. Such is an imperfect attempt to give some idea of a very remarkable work, description of which is more than usually difficult because of its originality. The effect produced by it on a second hearing was decidedly greater than that made the first time-a sure test of sterling music. With respect to the performance, it was in all respects admirable. Signor Verdi is an excellent conductor, and for finish and precision the rendering of the music could hardly have been surpassed. The solo quartett was exceptionally good, as the composer had brought over from Paris the four artists who had sung in the mass there under his direction. These were, Mdme. Stolz (soprano), Mdme. Waldmann (mezzo-soprano), Signor Masini (tenor) and Signor Medini (bass); Of these artists Signor Masini is the principal tenor of the operas at Florence and Cairo, the other three occupy important positions in La Scala at Milan, as well as at Cairo. Mdme. Stolz is a magnificent dramatic singer, with a powerful voice able, even in the Albert Hall, to dominate both chorus and orchestra; Mdme. Waldmann's voice has less brilliance but more richness; her singing possesses to a very remarkable degree the precious quality of charm. A French critic has aptly said of these two ladies, "the one with a voice of crystal, the other with a voice of gold." Signor Masini has a sympathetic tenor voice, sweet rather than powerful, and most artistically managed; and the bass, Signor Medini, is the possessor of an organ of remarkable richness and volume. The ensemble of the four artists was the most perfect conceivable; finer solo singing has seldom if ever been heard. Their performance of the Offertory, though hardly one of the finest numbers of the work, was alone worth the journey to the Albert Hall to hear. The choruses were sung by the members of the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society with great finish, and an excellent orchestra, led by Messrs. Sainton and Carrodus, did the fullest justice to the composer's masterly and EBENEZER PROUT. elaborate instrumentation. THE first of the series of six Summer Concerts at the Crystal Palace took place last Saturday. These concerts will closely resemble in their general features the well-known "Saturday Concerts" which take place during the winter months; the chief difference being that fewer novelties are produced. The principal pieces brought forward on Saturday were: the unfinished Symphony in B minor, by Schubert; Beethoven's "Choral Fantasia," in which the pianoforte part was taken by Mr. Charles Hallé; and the overtures to Guillaume Tell and Rienzi. The vocalists were Mesdames Lemmens Sherrington and Patey, Mr. Vernon Rigby and Signor Foli. This afternoon the "Choral Symphony," one of the specialties of the Crystal Palace band, is to be given. In addition to the two performances of Verdi's Requiem" spoken of above, two miscellaneous "National Concerts were given at the Albert Hall on Whit-Monday afternoon and evening. Being designed for the amusement of a holiday audience, they contained, as was only natural, no features requiring a detailed notice in these columns. MDLLE. MARIE KREBS gave the first of two pianoforte recitals which she has announced at St. James's Hall, last Wednesday. We have so often expressed our opinion of this young lady's admirable playing that it is needless to repeat it now. We will, therefore, only say that her programme included a prelude and fugue in A minor, by Bach; Beethoven's Sonata in A flat, Op. 26 (with the funeral march); Bennett's Three Sketches, "The Lake," "The Millstream," and "The Fountain; " Chopin's Nocturne in C minor, and three of his Etudes; Haydn's Variations in F minor; Schumann's Arabesque and Novellette in E, Op. 21, No. 7; a "Pensée," by Carl Krebs, the pianist's father; and a "Tarantelle-Toccata," by Charles Mayer. Two interesting articles have lately appeared in the columns of our contemporary the Choir, by Mr. J. Gompertz Montefiore, on a new system he has invented of writing music, to which he has given the name of "Musikography." It is in fact a kind of musical short-hand, designed as an assistance to composers in jotting down ideas, and making first sketches of new works with much less than the ordinary amount of mechanical labour. The system is not designed to replace the usual method of writing, as Mr. Montefiore well knows that this would be practically impossible; it is simply intended to supplement it, and for this purpose it seems well adapted, being apparently both simple and logical. We have not practically tested it ourselves, but the author says he believes that it "can be mastered by any having some previous knowledge of music in a couple of hours at the outside," and after reading correctness of his estimate. Those who wish to his articles we are hardly disposed to doubt the make the acquaintance of the system will find the articles in question in the Choir of the 1st and 15th instant. one Two new operas have lately been produced at the Opéra Comique in Paris, L'Amour Africain, by M. Paladilhe, and Don Mucarade, by M. Ernest Boulanger. M. Paul Bernard, the critic of the Revue et Gazette Musicale, speaks coldly of the first work, but is loud in his praises of the second. THE benefit performance given at the Opera, Paris, on the 8th inst., for the families of the aeronauts who were killed in the recent balloon ascent, realised the sum of about 20,000 francs. M. CAPOUL has just signed an engagement with M. de Locle. He will "create" next winter at the Opéra Comique the part of Paul in M. Victor Masse's work Paul et Virginie. The composer is very desirous that the part of Virginie should be assigned to Mdme. Patti, but it is doubtful whether the management will be willing to go to the expense of engaging her. THE Folies Dramatiques is to be re-opened on September 1 with a new opéra-bouffe by Charles Lecocq, entitled Le Pompon. La Fille de Madame Angot was recently given at this theatre for the 529th time. consideration for the illustrious composer the committee abstained from entering a protest; they would, nevertheless, regret to see the theatres repeat the experiment; "for masses," says the report, "are much more in their place under the arches of a church than under the cloak of a harlequin." A VERY interesting concert was given at Leipzig on the 2nd inst. by the Bach Society, under the direction of their conductor, Herr A. Volkland. The principal works produced were three very fine (though in two cases all but unknown) Kirchencantaten. These were "Du wahrer Gott und David's Sohn," "Es ist dir gesagt, Mensch, was gut ist" (the opening chorus of which shows a curious identity in its theme with "Their sound is gone out" in the Messiah), and "Ein feste Burg," in which Luther's well-known chorale is treated as only Bach could have treated it. The performance is spoken of as most excellent. THE Singakademie at Breslau celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on the 4th and 5th inst. with a performance of Handel's Samson and a miscellaneous concert. Ir is stated that Herr Richter, the new conductor of the opera at Vienna, wished that the direction should be given without "cuts," but that first performance of the Meistersinger under his he was obliged to abandon the idea in consequence of the opposition of Herr Beck, who had to sing the arduous part of Hans Sachs. THE post of organist and musical instructor at Eton College is vacant. The appointment rests with the headmaster and the governing body. IN the report read at the annual meeting of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, Including Postage to any part in the Salle Herz at Paris, some very sensible remarks were made on the recent performance of Verdi's "Requiem" at the Opéra Comique. From of the United Kingdom. Including Postage to any part of America £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 0 17 4 088 044 0 19 6 099 0 4 11 SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1875. No. 160, New Series. THE EDITOR cannot undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscript. It is particularly requested that all business letters regarding the supply of the paper, &c., may be addressed to the PUBLISHER, and not to the EDITOR. LITERATURE. THE ALDINE PRESS. Alde Manuce et l'Hellénisme à Venise. the technical difficulties overcome by Aldus, more Thirty-three mouths were daily fed at his table. Besides printing, he had to superintend type foundry, ink manufacture and binding. Everything required for his great work-except the paper, which came from Fabriano-was made and finished on his own premises. As Latin was the common speech in To rewrite the famous work of Renouard Estienne's house at Paris, so Greek was upon the Aldine Press would have been talked in Aldo's house at Venice. The superfluous. There is no bibliographical common phrases of printers-type, characcatalogue in existence complete ter, and so forth-were Greek, and have than the Annales de l'Imprimerie des Aldes. remained Greek. The directions to printers, Therefore, M. Didot wisely selects a depart- folders, and binders were given in Greek. ment of his subject which had been omitted Prefaces were written in Greek. Surnames in the plan of Renouard. He devotes atof editors and correctors of the press were tention less to colophons and title-pages than Grecised. The House of Aldus was, in short, to prefaces and dedicatory epistles, trans- a great Greek factory, where a new and Parlating such portions as throw light upon the modern body was fashioned for the indelife and labours of Aldus and his collabora-structible spirit of Hellas. tors, or illustrate the conditions of Greek scholarship in Italy, or display the spirit of Humanism at the opening of the sixteenth century. Since many of these prefaces are extremely rare, and at the same time most important to the student of European literature, he has done the world good service by thus placing the wealth of private libraries at the disposition of the public. The same may be said about his collection of original letters by Musurus and other Greeks settled in Italy, to whom we literally owe the "eternal consolation" of Hellenic culture. Biographical notices of the members of the Aldine Academy, a short sketch of Greek studies in Italy previous to Aldus, numerous details concerning Demetrius and the Cretan calliagraphers who supplied patterns for Greek type, and some curious information about Alberto Pio, Prince of Carpi, may be reckoned among the subsidiary attractions of this comprehensive volume. THE Rector of Lincoln, in his able and comprehensive Life of Isaac Casaubon, remarks that the Italian students of the Renaissance were occupied with Latin rather than Greek literature. It is difficult to understand how so careful a student as Mr. Pattison can have adopted a position so paradoxical. In one sense the whole European scholarship of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries was more Latin than Greek, partly because Latin had never wholly ceased to be a spoken and written language, and partly because the greater difficulty of Greek has always made it the privilege of a select minority among the learned. M. FirminDidot's monograph on Aldus Manutius might be taken as an elaborate refutation of Mr. Pattison's sweeping statement. It proves beyond question, what indeed has always been apparent to Italian scholars, that Greek literature was saved in the fifteenth century wholly and solely by the indefatigable energy of Florentine students and Venetian printers. The Estiennes and Casaubon could not have existed if the Aldi and Poliziano had not preceded them. At a time when France, Germany, and Holland were sunk in the apathy of barbarism, Italy was keenly alive to the advantages of culture; and the fragments of Greek learning, saved from the wreck of Byzantium, are owed by the modern world to the acquisitive munificence of Palla Strozzi and Cosimo de' Medici, to the conservative zeal of Aldus Manutius and Andrea d' Asola. A very peculiar interest attaches to this work of M. Firmin-Didot. The representative of that great house of Parisian publishers, who in the nineteenth century have continued the labours of the Estiennes, he devotes a long, careful, and enthusiastic treatise to the biography of his greatest predecessor in the art of popularising classical literature. The Aldi, the Estiennes, the Didots, will be for ever associated in the annals of typography. Each of these families can show at least three generations of illustrious editors; and the aim of each has been the same, to meet the requirements of culture in their age by rendering the Greek d Latin authors accessible to every reader agreeable form. Consequently, M. Didot is treating of a subject which he understands in its minutest details; his observations on a The interest of the book, however, centres, as is right and natural, in Aldus Manutius himself. When we remember that before this man began to work at Venice, only eleven volumes in Greek had been printed, and that he alone between the years 1493 and 1515 gave thirty-three first editions to the world, including Plato, Aristotle, Pindar, Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Demosthenes, Herodotus, Thucydides, Athenaeus, Pausanias, Philostratus, we are able to comprehend both the magnitude of his achievement and the debt of gratitude we owe to him. During this short period of twenty-two years-while Italy was being rent with disastrous wars, French invasions, Spanish occupations, and menaces of Turkish conquest-Aldus succeeded in rendering Greek literature imperishable. Twice was the labour of the press suspended owing to the peril from a foreign foe which threatened Venice. More than one strike among compositors and printers threw the workshop into confusion. The difficulties of collecting manuscripts, of engaging competent coadjutors, of ascertaining the text of authors never edited before, of founding legible Greek type, and of correcting proofsheets, were enough to daunt the most courageous pioneer of learning. In spite of all obstacles Aldus never relaxed in his selfappointed task. His house became the resort of Greek refugees and Italian scholars. Aldus died poor. It had not been his aim to accumulate a fortune by his industry. Nothing is more manifest than his singlehearted desire to restore to light the treasures of the ancient world, and to communicate to the poorest scholars the wealth of learning which hitherto had been the monopoly of rich virtuosi. A manuscript of Livy in the fifteenth century fetched the same price as a comfortable farm. Aldus sold the whole five volumes of his first edition of Aristotle for about 81. The average price for each volume of his pocket classics was two shillings. When the student takes down one of these books, and compares its excellent paper and sharp clear type with a wretched German copy of the same author, reflecting at the same time how much it cost Aldus to produce the first Sophocles, and how easy it is to print a Sophocles now, he cannot but be lost in admiration. To follow M. Didot through the different sections of a work of 622 pages would be impossible; nor is it easy even briefly to indicate the extent and value of his researches. If any stricture can be passed upon a book so profitable and so full of learning, it might be suggested that a want of method in the arrangement of material is occasionally noticeable. We have, for example, to gather our information respecting the price of Aldo's books, his numerous occupations, the causes of the inaccuracy of his first editions, and the privileges granted to him by Venice and Leo X. from widely separated pages. Some repetition in the history of Greek studies in Italy might also be pointed out. Finally, it might be questioned whether Greek quotations are always accurately rendered. On p. 549, for instance— σέλας ἠμάλδυνεν ομαίμου ἥλιος· ἡ δ ̓ ἄστρων φροῦδον ἔθηκε φάος, distinguished excellence, is an ungrateful Circus Life and Circus Celebrities. By Thomas Frost. (London: Tinsley Brothers, 1875.) THIS is a good title, and it will recall to many readers the memory of pleasant hours spent in the tent or amphitheatre. All classes delight in horsemanship, and the young are not ashamed to acknowledge their liking, but adults usually shield themselves under the pretence of "taking the children," and enjoying their enjoyment. The circus has a tolerably long history, but although England has been described as the paradise of horses, an amphitheatre for horsemanship was unknown here until the close of the last century. Bull and bear-baiting were the favourite amusements of our ancestors, and the sights in the circus in olden times largely consisted of the antics of jugglers and tumblers. Banks and his bay horse Morocco, however, have made their mark in literature, for Raleigh and Shakspere both thought them worthy of notice. Mr. Frost has chosen an unhacknied subject, but he gives us very little of its early history. We hear of Banks's horse, but nothing of the Bear Gardens in Southwark, and the treatment is so modern that in a volume of over 300 pages we arrive at the year 1841 as early in the book as p. 100.. Some will perhaps consider this as an advantage, because they like to be told what goes on behind the scenes they look at from the front; but others who care to read about the Astleys and Ducrows because time has thrown an air of distinction over these now historical characters, will be contented to see Sanger's and Hengler's Circuses without knowing anything of their internal arrange ments. The characteristic of circus people which differentiates them from other "artistes" is the wandering life they lead. It is true that nowadays actors and musicians visit America and Australia, but they have not yet reached the standard in this respect of their brethren in the lower walks of art. Mr. Frost says: "There are few men or women of eminence in the profession who have not visited nearly every European capital, and many of them have made the tour of the world. Price's Circus was for many years one of the most popular institutions of Madrid, and the Circo Price was to English seamen. circus artistes what Cape Horn is to American Tell an equestrian or an acrobat that you have seen him before, and he will ask, "Was it at the Circo Price? Albert Smith once visited a circus at Pera where the playbill was in three languagesTurkish, Armenian, and Italian-and his astonishment was great when a real clown jumped into the ring and cried out in perfect English: "Here we are again, all of a lump! How are you?" The speech of the clown was quite incomprehensible to the audience, but his drollery of manner struck them at last, and then the fezzes were agitated like poppies in the wind. It is a question yet unsolved why the clown with his hot codlins is so peculiarly an English institution, and such an integral part of the circus, that he follows the horses even to places where his language is not understood. All the performers, whether their specialty be riding, vaulting, or clowning, are engaged Circus life is not very different from the larger life outside, and these versatile individuals often lead but a sorry existence, until they can rise out of the ruck and do something different from their companions. They must astonish in order to live, and those that astonish the most will make the best living: so it has been with Van Amburgh, Carter, and other "lion kings," with Leotard, Blondin, and other gymnasts. Managers are sometimes hard put to it for a novelty, and their attempts to obtain one are often laughable enough. Wallett, the clown, and Pablo Fanque, the negro rope-dancer (otherwise William Darby), when in partnership together at Glasgow, hit on the expedient of turning an Irish posturer in their company, whose nom d'arena was Vilderini, into a Chinese. The Irishman was shaved, stained, and dressed in Chinese costume, and had the name of Ki-hi-chinfan-foo conferred upon him. His appearance was so far a success that two veritable Chinamen, who had witnessed his performances, took him for a countryman of theirs, but each time they enquired for him at the stage door they were told he could not be seen. These repeated rebuffs made the honest "Celestials suspicious-not of his reality but of his treatment by his employers. Thinking that he was held in durance and only released in order to appear in the ring, they went to the police court and made an affidavit to that effect. The unfortunate Pablo Fanque, therefore, was called upon for an explanation, and was obliged to put the Irish posturer into the witness-box to declare that he could not speak a word of Chinese, and had never been in China in his life. and speak a language of their own. Circus performers congregate together Frost marks off a large district on the south Mr. side of the river as the professional quarter of London. He says:: "At least three-fourths of what I have termed the amusing classes, whether connected with ciractors, singers, dancers, equestrians, clowns, gymcuses, theatres, public gardens, or music hallsnasts, acrobats, jugglers, posturers-may be found, in the day time at least, within the area bounded by a line drawn from Waterloo Bridge to the Victoria Theatre, and thence along Gibson Street and Oakley Street, down Kennington Road as far as the Cross, and thence to Vauxhall Bridge." In a morning walk from Westminster Bridge to Waterloo Road, the acrobats and rope dancers of the circuses and music halls may be easily recognised by their dress; and a visit to Barnard's tavern, opposite Astley's, or the Pheasant, in the rear of the theatre, will show a large percentage of circus "artistes" before the bar. The author gives some specimens of the circus slang, which seems to have been One chapter is devoted to American circuses, and gorgeous indeed is the description, for we read of gilded chariots, and dens plated and elaborated by the most cunning artisan which would excite the envy of a Croesus. Everything is on a big scale, for the street processions are three miles long and worth going a hundred miles to see. All the American circuses are tenting or travelling ones, and one of them (Howes and Cushing's) came over to England in 1870, threatening Messrs. Sanger with a formidable rivalry, but the Englishmen determined to drive the Yankees off the road, and thoroughly succeeded in their attempt. Barnum's Great Travelling World's Fair is by far the largest of the circuses of the United States, and the description of its marvels allows full scope for the genius of its proprietor. The tickets are dispensed by the "Lightning ticket seller," who disposes of them at the rate of 6,000 per hour. He, however, cannot supply the demand, so there are several other ticketwaggons, and Mr. Barnum's book agent fur nishes from "his elegant carriage" tickets free to all buyers of the life of P. T. Barnum, reduced from three dollars and a half to one and a half." The sublime of description is reached by the greatest showman the world has ever seen, and we despair of being able to add even a touch to the gorgeous picture he has painted. 66 It is not remarkable that in a book on a new subject there should be a few mistakes, but it is perhaps worth while to take note of two of them. Mr. Frost states that the first mention of Vauxhall Gardens is to be found in a paper of Addison's in the Spectator; but this is not strictly correct, as the place, under another name, was much fre quented in Charles II.'s reign. Evelyn went to the New Spring Gardens, which was the old name, in 1661, and Pepys found a great deal of company there in 1667. The fol lowing paragraph in the preface is quite incomprehensible: "Under the heading of 'Amphitheatres,' Watts's Bibliotheca Britan nica, that boon to literary readers at the upon occult subjects, mentions only a colBritish Museum in quest of information lection of the bills of Astley's from 1819 to 1845." How it is possible for a work pub lished in 1824 to contain any such entry as the above is more than we can understand; theca was the work of the late learned libraperhaps Mr. Frost believes that the Biblio rian at the Museum, Mr. Watts, instead of Dr. Robert Watt, a Scotch physician. We must take leave of an interesting book with the remark that Circus Life has been fortunate in its historian. HENRY B. WHEATLEY. Silvan Evans is resigning the editorship of the WE are sorry to understand that the Rev. D. Archaeologia Cambrensis. Mr. Silvan Evans found it the organ of a local society, and leaves it a journal the reputation of which is by no means confined to the United Kingdom. We are anxious to learn who is to be his successor. A Text English Constitutional History. Ir is a gratifying sign of the times that so large a demand for historical works continues to show itself; and it is even more gratifying to see that this demand is worthily met by the production of much better books for student and ordinary reader than the past generation had an opportunity of perusing. Every one who takes a real interest in the history of the past and of the presentthe true and living scion of that past-will gladly welcome the publication of such manuals as Mr. Taswell-Langmead's, which at reasonable length and in readable form and language will do much to make popularly known the origin and the growth of our institutions, and the reasons for their continued existence or moderate and harmonious reform. Such manuals, when compiled with the conscientious carefulness here manifested on every page, are not only useful to the large and growing class of students, but are handy summaries of history which no library can do without. The plan of this compendium appears to have been well considered-an element often miserably disregarded-and the materials which the author has chosen to form the solid texture of his work have been judiciously selected. Nothing can be better than the use of Professor Stubbs' admirable volumes, Dr. Freeman's Norman Conquest, and Lappenberg's England under the Anglo-Saxons, for the groundwork of the earlier chapters. And it is really pleasant to see that there is no unnecessary resort to "original authorities," or neglect of authoritative masterpieces of historical literature, such as Hallam's and Macaulay's well-known works. Commencing with an elaborate sketch of the primitive polity of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors and its gradual development from personal to territorial organisation, first under native and subsequently under Danish kings, an exposition which is now recognised as all-essential to the right understanding of the spirit of the national life which underlies the continuous current of its history, the reader is presented with an intelligible account of the real effects of the Norman Conquest, and the results of the centralising rule of the three first Norman Kings exhibited in the modification and restraint of the old liberties of the land, and in the needful strengthening of the executive power of the State, while in other respects the continuity of national history was not broken. It is satisfactory here to find Mr. TaswellLangmead sustaining the older and more correct view of the harshness and selfishress of the personal characters of all the sovereigns of this line, while giving due prominence to their extraordinary capacity of organisation. The ample commentary on Magna Charta to which the whole of a long chapter is devoted, is both useful and interesting, and the author has wisely given in the notes the whole of the original text of this celebrated "landmark in Constitutional History." This memorable record is one which naturally occupies a large space in any work of this kind, and just now there is special need for a more than usual completeness of treatment of the Great Charter by writers of history, inasmuch as there is much unfortunate parade of noisy ignorance of its terms and aims which heedless demagogues, by abusing the sacredness of historic truth, do not scruple to turn to their own ends. The Charter is, in fact, a most notable proof of the continuity of the sound English common-sense, which has been alike perplexing to kingly power and mere vulgar agitators; it is, as M. Perrens truly says in his La Démocratie en France au Moyen-Age, a proof that the practical mind of Englishmen thought then as now less about vague aspirations than about securing both old aspirations than about securing both old and new rights by Charters and Acts of Parliament." It is also most memorable as the first of those great political compromises for the common weal which have dignified the whole course of the national life. 66 Passing now to the reign of Richard II., the "redeless Richard so soundly and courageously taken to task by that great national poet William Langland, Mr. Taswell-Langmead has so thoroughly grasped the bearings of his subject that he must be allowed to speak for himself: santry, the real body of the nation, and historians are beginning to see that the consideration of the status and rights of the labourer and artisan forms an important chapter in mediaeval history. In England the growth of feudalism led to the depression of the once free labourer, the villein; and this depression was rapidly brought about by the intrusion of the doctrines of the Roman law as to property in the body of the servus, which, as an interesting passage in the Summa of Vicarius shows, were beginning to be applied to this class in the reigns of Stephen and Henry II. It may be that the hatred to the civil law, which is so conspicuous in our history, is to be attributed in part to the use that was made of it by certain of the legists; but whether or not this is so, it is important to remember that the writings of both Glanville (why does our author write Glanvil?) and Bracton are coloured by their studies in that which they, like all contemporary stu dents, credited as the "written reason" of law. Again, I have to compliment Mr. Taswell-Langmead on his accuracy in detecting the inconsistency between Glanville's statement of the servile condition of the villein and the evidence afforded by historical memorials of prior and later dates. The epoch of what has with some affectation been called by certain recent writers. "Tudor usurpation," is well handled, without declamation or narrowness of vision. up a "The reign of Richard II. is perhaps the most interesting period in the early constitutional history of England. It was the turning-point in the long struggle between constitutional liberty "During the 120 years spanned by this dynasty, and that arbitrary power towards which the the constitutional historian has scarcely any geneloosely defined prerogatives of our early kings were always impelling them. ral progress of free principles, any important During the last two years of his reign Richard succeeded in estab-author] a silent transfer of power was taking measure of improvement to record; but [adds the lishing a practical despotism, and the question place. The commercial wealth of the middle between him and his people was narrowed to the simple issue of absolute monarchy against parlia- landed proprietors, and feudalism gradually died classes enabled them to buy up the estates of the old mentary government. His deposition, and the out. The persecution of the Puritans roused election of the worthiest member of the royal spirit of opposition to the Crown, and the struggle house to fill his place, marked the final triumph of constitutional principles, and furnished a precedent of the greatest value when, nearly 300 years later, the last of the Stuart kings attempted once more to make the royal will the only law.' It was in the reign of Richard II., moreover, that the formidable insurrection of 1381 proved the turningpoint in the history of villeinage, which thenceforth gradually declined until it died out without any legislative abolition; and in this reign also we recognise in the theological writings of Wycliffe the true epoch of the beginning of the English Reformation.' "Under Richard II. not only did the commons confirm by frequent exercise the three main rights established under Edward III., that (1) no money could be levied, or (2) laws enacted without their assent, and that (3) the administration of government was subject to their inspection and control; but they also secured on an equally firm basis the two derivative rights, which had been asserted for the first time in the late king's reign-namely (1) the right to examine the public accounts, and appropriate the supplies, and (2) the right to impeach the king's ministers for misconduct." Mr. Taswell-Langmead has chosen the period of this king's reign as that in which the condition of the labouring classes might be discussed to the best advantage; other writers have selected the reign of Edward III., but there is an advantage in adopting this later date, inasmuch as the insurrection of the villeins in 1381 was unquestionably the "turning-point in the history of predial servitude." Of late years, both on the Continent and in England, a special interest has been taken in the history of the pea political freedom also. for religious freedom led on to the vindication of At the accession of the House of Stewart, [England] had reached the zenith of material progress and assumed the position of a United Kingdom.” This retrospect of an age brilliant in achievements, but which has long been a favourite subject of exaggerated reprobation, is followed by an interesting and fairly complete account of the growth of the increased power of the Crown, and a well condensed and thoughtfully written history of the momentous Reformation. In treating of this great religious revolution, the author takes us back to the pristine times of the Church in England prior to the Norman Conquest, and proceeds briefly to sketch the growth of the Papal power from that date until the reign of Henry III. From this epoch, which Prynne's voluminous Records suffice to establish as of the highest interest and importance, the history of the English Church is one of resistance more or less successful to the claims of the Pope, which is exceedingly analogous to the older resistance to the attempted tyranny of the Crown, and in like manner illustrates the continuous subsistence of northern coolness of temperament and judgment, and teaches a lesson which might usefully be studied even nowadays. It is, however, in dealing with that chief subject of constitutional history-parlia mentary government - that the work ex |