AN exhibition of drawings in black and white, executed for Messrs. Cassell & Co.'s fine art

publications, is to be opened at Mr. Leggett's Galleries, 62 Cheapside, on March 1.

Exploration Fund. Even more singular is it,
however, that Col. Scott Moncrieff, in his own
letter introducing that of Prof. Maspero to our
contemporary, should ignore the discovery of
Pithom by means of English money, take no
account of the brilliant services of M. Naville,
and remark that "England can send forth no
Egyptologist to share the work of Prof.
Maspero. This, too, in face of the fact (duly
mentioned in Prof. Maspero's accompanying
letter) that Mr. W. Flinders Petrie is even now
actually beginning work at Zoan (San) as the
accredited agent of an English society.

66

MUSIC.

RECENT CONCERTS.

66

selves into two series; one of them of labours curtailed, and others omitted. The solos are suggested by the artist's last visit to the Cornish interesting, the chorales wonderfully fine, and coast of which the readers of the World have the choruses contain much of Bach's most from time to time been made aware in Mr. pleasing and genial workmanship. Some of Whistler's own engaging fashion-and the other the chorales were sung unaccompanied, others of small oil paintings depicting the effects in supported by the organ. Yet Bach has throughcertain back shops of Chelsea. We shall be inout indicated the use of the organ and doubled terested in seeing to what extent these artistic the voice parts, with strings and wind instrustudies continue the line begun by Mr. Whistler ments. There were also other deviations from in his earlier French etchings, such as "The the score for which there seems to be no Rag Shop" and "La Marchande de Moutarde.' authority. In the solos the harmonies indicated MR. BROCK's bust of Longfellow has this by the continuo were filled up by the organ, but in week been placed in Poet's Corner. It is said such a faint and uncertain manner as to be scarcely by those who had an intimate acquaintance with audible, and thus much of the music sounded Longfellow to be an excellent portrait, and it is all top and bottom. Moreover, the organ part unquestionably a most spirited artistic performwas not given in the true Bach spirit. The ance. The poet is arrayed in the robes of a performance on the whole was very good, though "D.C.L.," the detail of which is neither too THE Philharmonic Society commenced its at times slightly wanting in delicacy. The much ignored nor too much insisted upon. The seventy-second season last Thursday week, choir sang splendidly. The solo vocalists were poet has an air of vigorous health and hearty February 21. The programme did not con- Miss Annie Marriott, Mdme. Patey, Mr. Harper spuits. The bust does not represent him pre-tain a single novelty. Mr. Carrodus played Kearton, and Mr. Bridson, and they all deserve In the unavoidable absence of Mr. cisely in old age. Mr. Brock has also almost Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and the perform- praise. completed his statue of Sir William Temple. ance was a masterly one; the brilliant and Hallé, Mr. W. H. Cummings conducted. The statue itself will shortly be placed in situ, difficult Molique cadenza which he introduced An interesting concert was given on Friday while the plaster model will be sent to the Royal into the first movement gained for him enthusi- afternoon at the Blüthner Pianoforte Rooms, Academy. This is likewise capable sculptor's astic and well-deserved applause. Miss Clara Kensington. Mr. Carrodus played two movework, but we must consider the Longfellow in- Asher, the young and clever pupil of Mr. Georgements of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto, and finitely more attractive. Mount, was heard in Mendelssohn's Capriccio songs were contributed by Mdme. Sterling and in B minor (op. 22). Mdme. Patey sang the Mr. Oswald; but the principal feature of the 'Inflammatus" from Dvorák's "Stabat Mater," afternoon was the playing of Mdlle. Marie and Haydn's Spirit's Song." The former Krebs on a piano with the new arrangement of piece, with its curious mixture of styles, is the strings known as the "overstrung scaling." interesting, but loses much of its effect by being To each note is added a fourth string, tuned an given in detached form. It was well sung by octave higher, which, by its "overtone reMdme. Patey. The programme included, be- inforcement," adds greatly to the power and sides, Beethoven's "Egmont," Spohr's "Power richness of the sound. Mdlle. Krebs, in a of Sound," and Gounod's "Saltarello," com- variety of solos by Beethoven, Schumann, posed expressly for the society. Respecting Liszt, &c., showed off to advantage the qualithese well-known works nothing need be said. ties of the instrument. Mr. Cusins having resigned, the conductorship Mr. A. C. Mackenzie's dramatic Cantata, this season will be in the hands of four honorary "Jason," produced at the Bristol Festival of musicians; we gave the names a few weeks 1882, was performed for the first time in ago Mr. George Mount wielded the bâton London by the Borough of Hackney Choral on the first evening. Under ordinary circum- Association last Monday evening, under the The libretto, by stances we should wait till the various candi-direction of Mr. E. Prout. dates had offered themselves for trial, and then Mr. W. Grist, is skilfully arranged; and the name the one whom we thought the most suitable composer, who has written excellent music, to place at the head of the orchestra of this old- owes not a little to the vigour and flow of the established society; but we feel able to pronounce verses. In the first part of the work we have judgment now at any rate on the first even- the building of the ship, the invocation of ing. On many occasions we have spoken of Jason, and the departure of the Argonauts. the late chef-d'orchestre, Mr. Cusins, and frankly In the second part Jason meets the royal expressed our opinion that he was not the man maiden, Medeia, and we have the love scene, to lead the band to honour and fame. But his the conflicts with the fire-breathing oxen, the faults were negative; those of Mr. Mount, on armed men, and the sleepless dragon who guards the other hand, are positive. His mode of the golden fleece; and the return of Jason and beating time is confusing, and now and then his companions to their native land. We do inaccurate; and, indeed, so absorbed does he not purpose to review each number in detail, become in the management of his stick and in but to give the general impression made upon the reading of his score that tempo, balance of us by the work. Earnestness of purpose, tone, phrasing, marks of expression, everything, in fact, essential to the faithful rendering of a work, is frequently spoiled, if not ignored. We have nothing to say against Mr. Mount either as a man or as a musician; but his début at the Philharmonic Concerts will not increase his reputation, and can have done no good to that of the society. Brahms' new Symphony was originally announced for the second concert, March 6; but it has been changed to No. 2 in D.

M. N. DE WAILLY has had printed as a pamphlet, which is circulated with the current number of the Gazette archéologique, the discourses delivered at the funeral of François Lenormant by three of his colleagues-M. Heuzey, president of the Académie des Inscriptions; M. Delisle, director of the Bibliothèque nationale; and M. R. de Lasteyrie, one of the editors of the Gazette archéologique.

A NEW museum has been formed at Rome, in the Baths of Diocletian, to contain the mural paintings that have been found pretty frequently of late years in the course of the excavations. It will be under the charge of Sig.

Fiorelli.

SIG. GAMURRINI, the Government archaeologist for Tuscany and Umbria, reports, upon an Etruscan balance and weights recently found at Chiusi (Clusium), that they prove Clusium retained its Etruscan standard of weight to a late time. The Etruscan pound was equal to 212-2 grammes; the Roman pound was equal to 327 grammes.

M. PH. BURTY writes to us :"M. Gaston le Breton, the director of the pottery museum at Rouen, which is one of the most important in France, has drawn up a descriptive and historical account of its treasures, accompanied by numerous illustrations of specimens remarkable for their intrinsic beauty or their rarity. This work, which can be obtained in London from M. Dulau, is a valuable contribution to the history of the origin of faience in France."

IT may be ranked among the curious coincidences of journalism that Miss Amelia B. Edwards in England and Prof. Maspero in Egypt, without collusion or previous correspondence upon the subject, should not only have been moved to make public their views as to the necessity of establishing a more extended system of local archaeological conservation in the valley of the Nile, but that these two independent appeals should have chanced to be published in London on the self-same day (Saturday, February 23), the one in the columns of the ACADEMY and the other in the Times. An unfortunate lapsus calami (probably a slip of the translator's pen) makes Prof. Maspero, in the above-named letter, attribute the excavation of the city of Pithom, this time last year. to the Palestine Fund, instead of to the Egypt

On Friday evening, February 22, Bach's "Christmas Oratorio was given by the Sacred Harmonic Society at St. James's Hall. The work was only intended for use in church, and the six sections of which it is composed were to be performed on different occasions, as indicated by the titles-first, second, or third days of the festival of Christmas, New Year's Day, Sunday after New Year's Day, and the festival of the Epiphany. So far as the character of the music is concerned, the performance of the whole work involves no inconsistency, but there is too much of it. Hence, on Friday, some of the movements were considerably

dramatic power of expression, a frank acknowledgment of the influences of the present day, and respectful adherence to the form and style of the past-all thsee we find in Mr. Mackenzie's music. In listening to it we feel in presence of a man who is steadily but surely feeling his way to independence and originality. Jason," in spite of occasional weakness, is a work of remarkable power and great promise. The most striking numbers are the choruses in the first part, the orchestral intermezzo "On the Waters," Jason's scena and air in the second part, and the concluding chorus. The solo vocalists were Miss Fusselle, who did not do full justice to her part, and Messrs. J. W. Turner and M. Tufnail, who were fairly successful. The choir sang well, and the orchestra, which had a difficult and important part to fulfil, did its best; but the limited opportunities for rehearsal caused at times a slight unsteadiness. The hall was filled and the work well received.

On Tuesday evening last, Mr. Willing gave an extra concert in aid of a fund for restoring churches near Coventry. The programme was

one of special interest. There was, first of all, HURST & BLACKETT'S TRÜBNER & CO'S

the Fifty-seventh Psalm, composed for tenor solo, chorus, and orchestra by Mr. E. H. Thorne. This short work, written for Mr.

NEW WORKS.

Willing's Choir, is one of very great merit; the GLIMPSES of GREEK LIFE and

music is clever and interesting. The opening solo and chorus and the concluding number are delightfully fresh and well developed. Mr. Charles Chilley sang the solo part with much taste, but not sufficient power. After this selection from Handel's Oratorio

came

a

SCENERY. By AGNES SMITH, Author of "Eastern Pilgrims," &c.
1 vol., demy 8vo, with Illustrations and Map of the Author's Route,
15s.
[Next week.
CONTENTS: An Atlantic Storm-First Impressions of Athens-In Athens
-Sunium and Hymettus-Marathon and Aegina-The Isthmus and the
Acro-Corinthus-Mycenae and the Argive Plain-In Sparta-Near Taygetus
-On Ithome-Easter in a Monastery-From the Monastery to Kreki-In
Olympia-From Olympia to Megaspelion-A Journey to the Styx-Greek
Hospitality-Difficulties-A Thunderstorm on Mount Parnassus-From
Parnassus to Corfu-Language and Character of the Modern Greeks-Com-
parison of Syrian and Grecian Travel.

SKETCHES OF AMERICAN TRAVEL, BY IZA DUFFUS HARDY. 1 vol.,
demy 8vo, 158.
[Just ready.

BELOW STAIRS; or, LONDON UNDER the LAST GEORGES, 1760-
1830. By J. FITZGERALD MOLLOY. SECOND EDITION. Price 219.
Completing the Work.

WITHOUT GOD: Negative Science A COMPREHENSIVE COMMENTARY

and NATURAL ETHICS. BY PERCY GREG, Author of "The Devil's
Advocate," "Across the Zodiac," &c. 1 vol., demy 8vo, 12.

LODGE'S PEERAGE and

"La Resurrezione," written at Rome in 1708. BETWEEN TWO OCEANS; or,
We believe it has never been given in England.
In the score, which is in the musical library at
Buckingham Palace, Handel has made use of VOLS. III, and IV. of COURT LIFE
several instruments, now obsolete-viz., the
theorbo, the lute, the viola da gamba, and,
of course, the cembalo, the backbone of the
orchestra of the eighteenth century. A note
in the programme-book attracted special atten-
tion; it was as follows:-"Handel's instru-
mentation will be adhered to, and no
additions whatever made." In spite of this
promise, "additional accompaniments," and not
of the best, were used in the aria "O voi dell'
Erebo." The viola da gamba part in "Ferma
l'ali' was simply omitted; this, indeed, was
not an addition, but a subtraction. Of course,
the part left out could not be given; but some
other instrument or instruments ought to have
replaced the obsolete viola part, so as to ap-
proach as nearly as possible to the composer's TO HAVE and to HOLD.
intentions. And, again, the cembalo part is
absolutely necessary to recitatives, arias, and
choruses. To perform the Oratorio without

BARONETAGE for 1884. Under the especial Patronage of her
Majesty. Corrected by the Nobility. Fifty-third Edition. I vol., royal
8vo, with the Arms beautifully engraved, 3is. 6d., bound, gilt edges,
"This work is the most perfect and elaborate record of the living and
recently deceased members of the Peerage of the Three Kingdoms as it
stands at this day. It is a most useful publication. We are happy to bear
testimony to the fact that scrupulous accuracy is a dis.inguishing feature
of this book."-Times.

A

By Mrs. POWER O'DONOGHUE, Author of "Ladies on Horseback,"
Unfairly Won," &c. 3 vols.

By

SARAH STREDDER, Author of "The Fate of a Year," &c. 3 vols.
"This book contains a series of very clever, realistic, and vigorous
character-studies. It is written in a pleasant manner, and is told with
praiseworthy directness and clearness."-Whitehail Review.

ESSAYS on the SACRED LANGUAGE,
WRITINGS, and RELIGION

of the PARSIS. By Martin Haug, Ph.D.,

Late Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at the University
of Munich. Third Edition, Edited and Enlarged by E. W. WEST,
Ph.D. To which is also added a Biographical Memoir of the late 1.
HAUG by Professor EVANS. Post Svo, cloth, 16s.

"We have, in a concise and readable form. a history of the researches into the sacred writings and religion of the Parsis from the earliest ta down to the present-a dissertation on the languages of the Parsi Scrip tures, a translation of the Zend-Avesta, or the Scripture of the l'arsis, mad a dissertation on the Zoroastrian religion, with especial reference to la

harpsichord, or piano, or substitutive accompani- MR. NOBODY. By Mrs. John Kent origin and develop the contrian

cembalo evidently filled up the harmonies or played an independent part, as indicated in the concluding symphony; but Mr. Willing only gave the voice and violoncello part, thus making a perfect caricature of the song. The music, if not great, is very graceful and pleasing. Two of the most interesting numbers were omitted:

the first, the Angels' Song, with violins divided into four parts, and Maddalena's aria "Per me gia," with some very interesting and feasible orchestration. The Oratorio only contains two choruses; these were both given, and well sung by the choir. The solo vocalists were Miss J.

Griffin, Mdme. Enriquez, and Messrs. Chilley HURST & BLACKETT'S CREEDS of the DAY;

Woman's Thoughts about
Women. By the Author of
John Halifax.'

Adam Graeme. By Mrs. Oliphant.
Sam Slick's Wise Saws.
Cardinal Wiseman's Popes.

A Life for a Life. By the Author
of John Halifax.'

Leigh Hunt's Old Court Suburb.
Margaret and her Bridesmaids.
Sam Slick's Old Judge.

Darien. By Eliot Warburton.
Sir B. Burke's Family Romance.
The Laird of Norlaw. By Mrs.
Oliphant.

The Englishwoman in Italy. By
Mrs. Gretton.

Nothing New. By the Author of
'John Halifax.'

Freer's Life of Jeanne d'Albret.

Alec Forbes. By George MacDonald,
LL.D.

Agnes. By Mrs. Oliphant.

A Noble Life. By the Author of
John Halifax.'

Dixon's New America.

Robert Falconer. By George Mac-
Donald, LL.D.

The Woman's Kingdom. By the
Author of John Halifax.'
Annals of an Eventful Life. By G.
W. Dasent, D.C.L.
David Elginbrod. By George Mao-
Donald, LL.D.

A Brave Lady. By the Author of
'John Halifax.'

Hannah. By the Author of Johu
Halifax.'

Sam Slick's Americans at Home.
The Unkind Word. By the Author
of John Halifax.'

WE have to record the death of Mr. John Pyke
Hullah, LL.D., in London, on February 21.
He was born at Worcester in 1812, and in 1832
became a student of the Royal Academy of
Music. He was first known as a composer;
nearly half a century ago his Opera "The Vil-
lage Coquettes' was produced at the St.
James's Theatre. The singing classes which
he held, first at Exeter Hall and afterwards at
St. Martin's Hall, did much to spread the
In
knowledge of music among the people.
1872 he was appointed Inspector of Training The Valley of a Hundred Fires.
Schools for the United Kingdom. He wrote
many essays and papers on the history and
science of music for various periodicals. The
History of Modern Music and Music in the House
are two of his best-known works. Dr. Hullah
was a contributor to the ACADEMY in its early
days; and long and ably written articles in
our columns on music and musicians of the
eighteenth century, and other subjects, gave
proof of his musical knowledge and literary
ability. Dr. Hullah held many appointments, IT was a LOVER and his LASS.

A Rose in June. By Mrs. Oliphant.
My Little Lady. By E. Frances
Poynter.

Phoebe, Junior. By Mrs. Oliphant.
Life of Marie Antoinette. By
Professor C. D. Yonge.

Sir Gibbie. By George MacDonald,
LL.D.

Young Mrs. Jardine. By the Author
of John Halifax.'
Lord Brackenbury. By Amelia B.
Edwards.

THE NEW VOLUME

COMPRISES

By Mrs. OLIPHANT,

Author of "Chronicles of Carlingford," &c.

HURST & BLACKETT, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

or, Collated Opinions of Reputable Thinkers. By Henry Coke.

In Three Series. To which is now added an Index and Contents. 2 vols., demy 8vo, cloth, £1 1s.

"It is not a light task which Mr. Coke has set before him-to present the theological outcome of Biblical study, modern science, and speculation is concise, clear, and simple form-yet it must be owned that he has carrin out his purpose with uo little intelligence and skill. view of the opinions on the most important questions of the day can be got from these pages, which are full of information."-Scotsman.

SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1884.
No. 618, 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.

Shakspere's Predecessors in the English Drama. By J. A. Symonds. (Smith, Elder, & Co.) Ir is an agreeable surprise to find that, on completing his great work on the civilisation of Renaissance Italy, Mr. Symonds has turned his attention once more (for we learn from the Preface of the present volume that it was projected already twenty years ago) to the Eterature of Elizabethan England. Mr. Symonds is one of the most eminent of a class of critics which, whatever philistines and pelants may say, may be considered as important to our happiness only less than the artists about whom they write. Art and literature can never become a real study to any but an infinitesimal portion of intelligent mankind; nor is it in the least desirable that they should do so. Their usefulness consists in their enjoyment—in the fact of their being not an occupation, but a recreation; an interlude in our life, and not a constantly present interest. But in order that the beautiful things of literature and art be thus enjoyed without effort, it is necessary that those who are to enjoy them should have them put within their reach, or rather in their way; and for this a special class of minds becomes necessary. Between the artist who creates and the ordinary man who enjoys there is Learly always necessary a mediator-an artist descended by a few steps from the level of artistic creation, or an ordinary man raised by a few degrees nearer thereunto; a someone gifted with a keener sight and a more powerfal instinct of locality; above all, a someone able to spare more time than ourselves for becoming acquainted with all the roads, and paths, and points of view of this particular artistic country through which we are to be led. There are certain philistines who imagine that every man ought to be able, at once, to enjoy thoroughly every real work of art; who cry out that, if our attention must be directed, there can be no really artistic appreciation on our part-which is much the me as expecting a man to find his way in a strange town where he has just arrived, or to guess correctly at the character of a stranger of whose antecedents he knows nothing. We require to have our attention directed to new things, either by their resemblance to things already familiar, or by being deliberately stopped by someone who knows them better than ourselves; and to say this is surely not to libel our aesthetic faculties. How much Lore do we not see when we are taken a new Walk by a friend who is familiar with it; how much better do we not enjoy a new ery in company with someone who will ad us at once to his favourite pictures; how uch more do we not enjoy a new piece of music if the performer pauses and says, "Now listen to this passage-to that modula

tion;

and how much more (particularly if that friend who leads us the new walk has a special eye for scenery, if that person who takes us over the gallery, or who plays for us the piece of music, is a real artist or a real musician) is our power of perception reinforced by his, and does enjoyment come to us, as all real enjoyment should, without effort, unsought, to unfatigued minds!

66 or The

language than with aliens. Be this as it may, the fact, I think, remains, and may be very imply tested by finding out how many among our more intelligent friends possess Lamb's volume of selections from the Elizabethan dramatists-a book which cannot be read from the circulating library any more than the Bible, and which is therefore either possessed or ignored. The proportion of possessors I have enlarged on this subject because I of this book is small, as is proved by the small have a strong notion that the worthy people number of editions through which it has who consider art and literature from the passed. Now I think one may safely say merely scientific point of view-who find good | that, if that volume of Lamb's were in the art and bad art, good poetry and bad poetry, hands of every man or woman caring at all equally handy to put under their microscope, genuinely for poetry, the old dramatists would equally suggestive of treatises to be read by have contributed, in proportion to their wealth, similar scientific persons-would greatly like to the general fund of poetical enjoyment of to preach a crusade against all such as write the world. No one except a student need of literature and art for the benefit of those give much more of his time and attention to the to whom they are mere pastimes, forgetting Elizabethan drama. The number of plays, that, according to the platitude I have already even by men like Marlowe, and Webster, and pronounced, the only reason why good art is Beaumont and Fletcher, which will repay preferable to bad art, and good poetry to bad perusal as wholes is very small; and perhaps poetry, is that the first can afford more enjoy- it would be better to read "Hamlet" or ment than the second, that enjoymont is, "Romeo and Juliet" a second time than to therefore, the use of art, and that the men who read the whole of "Dr. Faustus help us to enjoy it are, therefore, the men Duchess of Malfy" a first time. And, except most profitably employed about it. I have with the view of learning the taste of the enlarged upon this point particularly, because times, and learning also in what dreary and it seems to me that our Elizabethan drama loathsome rubbish the finest pearls of poetry is exactly one of those forms of art which may be embedded, no ordinary human being have been most abundantly discussed by can be counselled to read the whole of a play scientific persons for the benefit of scientific by Tourneur or Marston-nay, even the whole persons, and least satisfactorily expounded by of a play by Ford. The desideratum, theremen specially endowed to enjoy for the benefit fore, is that a book like Lamb's Selections be of the world at large, capable of similar, but brought within everyone's ken. But, as no less deliberately and originally obtained, enjoy- one feels any interest in the absolutely unment; and because Mr. Symonds' present known, or looks out in the map a place whose book appears to me exactly fitted to create name awakens no associations, so also a book in the minds of intelligent readers that atmo-like Lamb's falls only accidentally into the sphere in which the full perfume of the hands of those to whom it may give pleasure; Elizabethans can be appreciated, that light in and, even when it does thus accidentally come which their form and colour can be enjoyed. to hand, this collection of fragments from I think I have said enough (though this poets all nearly equally unfamiliar to the platitude is one of those which is never suffi- general reader, and all nearly equally great ciently taken to heart) on the subject of good (thanks to Lamb's cunning selection) in the art and good poetry being useful in proportion samples presented, leaves in the mind a as they are enjoyed. My second proposition certain void, a certain barrenness. The divides into two propositions-namely, that interest which we feel in a passage from the Elizabethan dramatists do not at present Tourneur or Heywood or Dekker requires, in afford the full enjoyment which they ought, order to take root and fructify, that we and that Mr. Symonds' new book is peculiarly should have pointed out to us the connexion fitted to bring those Elizabethan dramatists and the comparative importance of each of more into what I may call current enjoyment. these men, their position as related to their That the Elizabethan dramatists, the im- superiors. This is what Mr. Symonds' new mediate predecessors, the contemporaries and book will accomplish; and to have accomimmediate successors, of Shakspere, do not plished this is always bearing in mind my constitute part of the usual aesthetical food premiss that the usefulness of art depends of cultivated, but unliterary, men and women upon its enjoyment-a piece of work incomis a fact which anyone, looking round among parably higher and more useful than would his circle of acquaintances, may verify for be the most elaborate study made for the himself. For one Englishman or English- benefit of students. Mr. Symonds is as the woman who knows a line of Marlowe, of artist, the connoisseur (he is both united), who Webster, of Ford, of Beaumont and Fletcher, leads us through a gallery; nay, rather, he we might count five or six, perhaps nine or is, or will be to many persons, the man who ten, people who are familiar with Dante and actually teaches the way to the gallery and Leopardi, Goethe and Heine. Dante and unlocks its doors. Leopardi, Goethe and Heine, are poets of the first order, men who stand alone; while Marlowe, Webster, Ford, Beaumont, and Fletcher are, whatever their greatness, merely secondclass Shaksperes. This is true; but, on the other hand, they are English, while the others are foreign; and, as a rule, there is more possibility of comprehension, of sympathy, hence of enjoyment, with poets in our own

Mr. Symonds' book is, as I gather from various allusions, the first part of a work upon our drama of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; the second volume, presumably, will deal with Shakspere; the third, with Shakspere's immediate successors-Webster, Ford, Beaumont and Fletcher, Massinger, and so forth. one treats of the origin of the literary form

which Shakspere brought to perfection, and of the men who immediately preceded him; it is the history of the evolution of our great romantic stage, of the gradual fusion of mediaeval dramatic traditions and Renaissance poetical tendencies, of the various necessities which made the Shaksperian play what it became. But, being a history, it begins with a definition of the organism whose evolution it traces, and it contains at every step definitions of the factors which compose this organism. Such being the scheme of the work, no man could be better adapted for its execution than Mr. Symonds; since, while equalling Mr. Swinburne in special erudition and in aesthetical instinct, he far surpasses the author of A Study of Shakespeare in his scientific mode of thought. Of Mr. Symonds' special learning only a specialist, and one equal to himself, has a right to speak; and to speak of special learning in the case of a book like this seems to me like speaking of the chemical composition of paints and varnishes in the presence of a great picture. The study of the many-sided civilisation of Renaissance Italy has given to Mr. Symonds, or, rather, has developed to the utmost, an extraordinary power of showing the various constituents of an intellectual organism, and of making us follow the process by which they unite and take form. The separate chapters, for instance, on the Mystery, the Miracle, the Masque, can be surpassed, in this particular kind of half-analytical, half-synthetical interest, only by the general summing up of the nature of the romantic drama as a whole. On the other hand, Mr. Symonds' instinct as a poet, the particular bent of his own endowments-as seen, for instance, in his sonnet on the genius of Eternal Slumber and the last sonnet of his Animi Figura-gives him a sympathy and an intuition for the art of the Elizabethans which is as valuable to his readers (to return to my old simile) as is the sympathy and intuition of a colourist for Titian, or of a tint-and-light-and-shade artist for Velasquez, to the fortunate persons who accompany him through a gallery. This personal bias, when united to scientific impartiality like that displayed by Mr. Symonds, is, to my mind, one of the most valuable qualities in a writer of the class which, as I have said, is next in importance, as regards the world's aesthetical enjoyment, to the class of actually

creative artists.

Thus, I would instance the admirable pages in which Mr. Symonds analyses Marlowe's characters, and finds as their universal constituent the amour de l'impossible. To some readers it may seem that a certain predilection for that same amour de l'impossible (manifested especially in his finest sonnets) on the part of Mr. Symonds himself may have made him particularly and excessively keen to its existence in Marlowe. We may differ from this personal judgment, each of us receiving, according to his individual nature, a somewhat different impression from a work of art; but does not this personality of judgment lend a higher value to criticism by making us feel that we are exploring an artistic region with the assistance, not of a system of fingerposts and milestones, but of a human being Îike ourselves—a stranger, perhaps, but, for the moment, a comrade and a friend?

VERNON LEE.

"The Cup" and "The Falcon." By Alfred
Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate. (Mac-
millan & Co.)

SEVERAL years have elapsed since the first
performance of these dramas on the stages
of the Lyceum and of the St. James's
Theatres. They are at length given to the
reading world, and curiosity as to their
literary merit, apart from their stage success,
can be satisfied. The present writer had no
opportunity, unfortunately for himself, of see
ing "The Falcon" acted; in the case of
"The Cup," he felt, in common with most of
the spectators, great difficulty in estimating
the play with eyes undazzled by Miss Ellen
Terry's acting of the part of Camma. Mr.
Irving's Synorix was but a pale presentment
in comparison with that great actor's larger
efforts; but Miss Terry's Camma would have
redeemed a far feebler play. Now, however,
that her magical influence is withdrawn, and
admiration of the brilliant setting of the play
has become a memory, what shall be said of
the play in se? This, at least, may be said,
by way of prelude, and in justice alike to
writer and reader of this review, that it is no
light thing to estimate a work of the hand
that wrote "In Memoriam," even in a branch
of poetic art not specially his own.

The drama of "The Cup" describes the
attempt of Synorix, ex-Tetrarch of Galatia,
to possess himself of Camma, wife of Sinnatus
his successor in that office. This he endea-
of a cup, once consecrated to the Galatian
vours to accomplish by the anonymous gift
Artemis, of whom Camma is a votary; and by
a disguise and an assumed name he worms
himself into the companionship of Sinnatus,
and partly into the confidence of Camma,
upon whom he imposes by feigning a commis
sion from Rome to arrest Sinnatus for " "play-
ing patriotism" and desiring the emancipation
of Galatia from her yoke. Eventually, he
persuades Camma to go forth, unknown to
her husband, to plead with Antonius, the
Roman General, for leniency towards him.
Antonius, so Synorix assures her, will pass
at dawn before the temple of Artemis; and,
having persuaded her thus, Synorix lurks,
with a body-guard, to seize and carry her off
when she appears for her interview with
Antonius. A lingering suspicion determines
Camma to go armed with a dagger, and to
bid Sinnatus follow her at a short interval.
treacherous intent; and, as he attempts to drag
Confronted with Synorix, she detects his
her away, Sinnatus enters and seizes him,
but is stabbed with the dagger which Synorix
has wrested from Camma. With his dying
breath he bids Camma take refuge in the
temple; and the curtain falls upon Synorix,
baulked of his prey, standing over the body
of Sinnatus. The second act shows Camma,
now priestess of Artemis, solicited by Synorix,
now Tetrarch of Galatia for the second time, to
ignore the past, and wed with him honourably.
The fickle populace have again adhered to the
once detested Synorix; and Camma, to the
surprise of all, consents to his proposal, stipu-
lating only that the ceremony shall imme-
diately follow the crowning. When they
meet before the altar of Artemis, Camma calls
for the bridal wine, and, pledging Synorix in
the cup of act I., bids him pledge her in
return. But the wine is poisoned; and Camma
lives just long enough to see her vengeance

consummated by the agony and death of Synorix, and then passes away herself, discrowned and triumphant, with the vision before her eyes of Sinnatus' spirit welcoming her to the Happy Isles.

At the risk of tediousness, I have given this résumé of the play, that those who have not seen it on the stage may judge of its sufficiency as the material for a tragedy. Confessing ignorance whether it is based on any historical occurrence or is purely fictitious, I would venture an opinion that its inherent capacities have been unduly curtailed by its compression into two short acts. With all his wealth of imagination, the poet seems to have shrunk here from sketching character, and has given us action and little else. Sinnatus is almost a shadow, and rather clownish shadow, too; Synorix, as the would-be genial but unscrupulous sensualist, is sketched with just enough care to tantalise us with the desire of a fuller presentment. As it is, we are forced to pass him, saying, as Mr. Browning says of the poor unknown corpse in the Morgue,

"Oh! women were the prize for you!" and there an end. Mr. Swinburne's com parison between Tennyson and A. de Musset never struck me as reasonable before perusing this play; but I must own that Synorix might have been sketched by the hand that half

drew Lorenzaccio. Even Camma herself,

at the beginning of act II. with masterly though drawn with far more energy, and skill, leaves an impression too vague for a

heroine.

It is pleasant to turn from criticism to gratitude and praise, even of one whose praise is in all men's mouths. The Poet Laureate is seldom happier than in describing tropical or half-tropical scenery. Has he often done better than this?—

"CAMMA. O look-one grove upon the mountain-
white

In the sweet moon as with a lovelier snow!
But what a blotch of blackness underneath!
Sinnatus, you remember-yea, you must,
That there three years ago-the vast vine-

bowers

Ran to the summit of the tree, and dropt
Their streamers earthward, which a breeze of
May

Took ever and anon, and opened out
The purple zone of hill and heaven; there
You told your love; and like the swaying

vines

Yea-with our eyes-our hearts, our prophet
hopes

Let in the happy distance, and that all
But cloudless heaven which we have found
together

In our three married years!" (act I., sc. ii). One hand, at least, has not lost its cunning after nearly fifty years of toil.

how strong is the following passage (act II., Again, though in a very different strain, pp. 62-63), where the messenger of Synorix brings Camma the proffered crown of Galatia, to be worn by her as his bride, and craves for an answer :—

« CAMMA. Tell him there is one shadow among the

shadows,

One ghost of all the ghosts-as yet so new,
So strange among them, such an alien there,
So much of husband in it still-that if
The shout of Synorix and Camma sitting
Upon one throne, should reach it, it would rise
HE- -HE, with that red star between the
ribs