and colour in this little wonder of a picture, where most exhaustive finish contends for pre-eminence with subtle harmonies of tone and light and shade. Its record is given by Smith from the old sale catalogues with unusual completeness. Originally in the Choiseul Gallery, it was engraved there by C. Evrard. From the Julienne Collection it was

sold in 1767 for 72l.; the Prince de Conti sold it in 1777 for 46l.; at the dispersal of the De Calonne Gallery in London, 1795, it realized 701.; Mr. E. Coxe parted with it for 140 guineas in 1813; the Earl of Yarmouth exhibited it at the British Institution in 1818 (not 1819, as Smith said); from him the late Marquis of Hertford bought it at a greatly advanced price.

The Unmerciful Servant (158), Smith's 114, was formerly at Stowe (Waagen called it 'The Unjust Steward'), whence it was sold for 2,300l., and has always been ranked high; it dates between 1645 and 1650. The shadows appear to have darkened and become somewhat opaque, while the types chosen for the faces seem to be much less select than was common in Rembrandt's practice at this period (to which belong 'The Adoration of the Shepherds,' now at the National Gallery, the fine piece of the same subject at Munich, 'Ephraïm Bonus,' the Grosvenor House Claes Berchem,' 'Berchem's Wife,' and, above all, 'The Good Samaritan' of the Louvre). The scheme of colour here is simple almost to austerity, and the light and shade is as massive and rich in variety of tone as in an etching by Rembrandt of the first quality. The sordid looks and half-reluctant repentance of the culprit are rendered in a style seldom surpassed even by the master. A highly dramatic point has been made in the face of one of the guards, who, observant as a dog might be of his master, gazes at his chief, the judge who is half rising on our left, and, with singular dignity and spirit, uttering the words which convey the moral of the parable. The parables of Christ forcibly attracted Rembrandt, and the vigour of his conception of them is seen in this picture as well as in 'The Good Samaritan.' The Portrait of the Painter (159), dated 1640, shows the almost polished surface of the work he produced at that period, while increased and very solid impasto is manifest in the handling of the eyes and nose. There is still more impasto and a richer glow in the Queen's Portrait of a Lady (160), which hangs next to it and is dated 1641.

Earlier Rembrandts exhibit, with a few exceptions, finer surfaces and more searching finish the further we go back. This is shown in Sir R. Wallace's Burgomaster Palekan and his Son Caspar (156) and the companion, Susanna Palekan and her Daughter (165), both of which were painted c. 1632-3, the period of 'The Anatomy Lesson.' The former answers the description of Smith's No. 341, while the companion picture, No. 165 before us, is evidently the famous cataloguer's No. 552. He (1836) wrote of them as being both in the collection of Heer Valckenier van de Poll, of Amsterdam, where they had hung since they were painted, nearly two hundred years before. In 1842 Nieuwenhuys bought them for 35,046 florins. In Smith's time only 20,000 florins were asked for them. Nieuwenhuys disposed of them to William II., King of Holland, at whose sale in 1850 they were lots 84 and 85, and sold to the late Lord Hertford for 1,200 guineas, or 30,200 florins. Each has a design of its own, so to say; the father is giving a bag of money to his young son (who became Echevin of Amsterdam, and married Clara Wouterse Valckenier), while the mother is giving a piece of money to her little daughter who stands at her side. It is noteworthy that in these pictures and others of the same period the artist's name is spelt "Rembrant," without a d, and this is the case, too, with Nos. 157, 159, 160, and 163. The expressions, except that of the rather dull boy, are full of character and as spontaneous as they can

be, while the attitudes of the figures are, again excepting the boy's, simply perfect. Rembrandt finished each picture with the extremest care, and thus prepared himself for that mastery of technical details which astonishes us nowadays. Even the bold and seemingly hasty handling of Lord Ilchester's 'Portrait of the Painter,' produced in 1658, to which we referred last week, cannot be said to be less than firm and searching, although a sort of pictorial shorthand pervades it. At the time the Palekans were painted the master used so much black in his shadows that these pictures might almost pass for Maeses if the more copious impasto and fresher handling did not prove them to belong to the greater master. If the surfaces of these portraits had been as well studied as that of No. 155, Sir R. Wallace's 'Young Man,' we might like them still better. If we knew more about Rembrandt and his pupils than research has yet revealed to us, it might appear that each pupil took with him, so to say, the style prevailing with the master at the time of his departure. Thus Maes's point of contact with his master would seem to be the style of the Palekan por traits, Bol's the Queen's Burgomaster Pancras and his Wife (163), which has the very peculiar qualities Bol excelled in; while we see in the Queen's Portrait of a Lady (160) the firm touch, clearness, smooth surface, exquisite finish, and, most distinctly, the golden hues of the light carnations, as well as the clean brownness of Dou. If Hals could be called a follower of Rembrandt, we should say that the wonderful mastery, solid impasto, full pigments, and sharply contrasting lights, shadows, and local tints of the Painter's Mother (164), which is dated 1632, and is doubt less the earliest Rembrandt here, had served as a lesson for the admirable Haarlemer, so closely do those qualities in the picture before us approach those we associate with Hals's mosaic-like touch and most characteristic technique. It would not be difficult to mistake No. 164 for a Hals. Hals, however, was born twenty-one years before Rembrandt, who in this picture seems to have adopted with great success his predecessor's method, intending, probably, to measure himself with the Haarlemer, much as Turner did with Claude. This peculiar manner, although occasional with the greater master, is not his own. It is not that which prevails in 'The Anatomy Lesson,' which is dated 1632.

There are points about the renowned Shipbuilder and his Wife (167), dated one year after the 'Painter's Mother' (the master was only twenty-seven years old then), which remind us of Hals, while in its firm, broad touch, realism as intense as it is simple, and thorough modelling, it approaches the perfection of Rembrandt's art. Smith numbered it 161, and says that at the Geldermeester sale in 1800 it realized 726l. Sold with the collection of Smeth van Alphen ten years later, 1,485l. was the price given by M. Lafontaine, who in 1811 sent it to Christie's and caused it to be "run up" to 5,000 guineas, in order, it seems, that it might not go out of the hands of the Regent, who had secured it before the sale came on. Smith evidently thought 5,000 guineas a monstrous price; yet nowadays the picture would realize a great deal more. We are fortunate in possessing of this work that somewhat rare thing in Rembrandts, a fine mezzotint by J. Hodges, which gives, as well as a transcript can, the intense expression of the man's eyes as, recalled to the outer world from abstruse calculations about the ship he is designing, he looks up from his table on being disturbed by his bustling wife, who has dashed into the room to give him a note, and thinks more of her cook and housemaid than of the Indiaman whose lines her husband has to study. The thoughtful look caused by his calculations lingers in his eyes, and jus just a touch of annoyance contracts his brows and his lips; but these signs are not enough to make the comedy painful. The hands of the pair are as true to their characters and,

so to say, as rich in spirit as their faces and attitudes. It is pleasant to find how little, excepting the darkening of the varnish which has been freely applied to them, these pictures have changed in two centuries and a half. In this respect the pair of Palekan portraits seem to have suffered most. A slight loss of the carnations, increased obscurity in the shadows of the flesh, and some dulness of the shadows render them less agreeable to look at. The super

ficial varnish on both canvases has "chilled," and it would improve them if, without in the least disturbing their condition, these obscuring films were removed. Besides, the lean and almost Jewish features of the great merchant and his wife render their likenesses, true as they are, disagreeable. His eyes are somewhat watery, his lips over-red, and her skin has become sallow, and contrasts rather harshly with the dark chestnut hair which was originally designed with tact to serve as a frame. Yet wonderful insight is shown in the realization of character in both these examples, the faces of which seem to belong to a world quite different from that of the two old women, the so-called Rembrandt's mother, No. 164, and her busy neighbour. We do not know why No. 164 is said to represent the mother of the painter, who died at Leyden in September, 1640. The face is not very like that in the Vienna picture, which is dated 1639. It is not identical with etchings which bear the name of Neeltgen Willems van Suydtbrouck, who, by the way, was the daughter of a baker of Leyden. "Rembrandt's father," so called, is to be seen in Val Green's excellent mezzotint. Mr. Humphry Ward's No. 117 used to be called 'Rembrandt's Father.' His grandfather's portrait was at the Academy last year.

The Burgomaster Pancras and his Wife (163) is another of her Majesty's generous loans from Buckingham Palace. Large as it is, and so full of colour and soft, rich light as to be a wonder in its way, it fetched only 280 guineas when sold with the collection of Mr. T. Hope in 1816. It reminds every one of what Bol aimed at and nearly succeeded in producing, many of his works approaching the level of this famous group. The lady, who is not even a Dutch beauty, wears a superb yellow silk robe, the effect of the light on which must have delighted Rembrandt while he painted it. She is seated on a couch before a table, and is matching her soft golden carnations with a large pearl, part of a parure which fills a casket upon the table, and which her husband seems to have just bestowed upon her. He, a kindly and yet stately figure, stands behind and smiles because his spouse is pleased. A large carcanet of pearls is in his hands, and, like the lady's exuberant form and her splendid attire, lit up by reflections from the mirror into which the lady looks with admiration at herself. Like the 'Tobias,' 'The Lady at the Window' (not that which is now here, but Smith's 298), and 'The Rabbi' at Berlin, the group before us belongs to the year 1645. The green of the man's dress seems darker than it probably was at first, but the picture, like most Rembrandts, has suffered little at Time's hands.

With two supremely fine examples of the influence of Rembrandt this notice must conclude. The Portrait of William Van de Velde (134), seated in his studio and preparing his palette, is by Michel van Musscher, who is better known in Holland than here. We know only this specimen of Van Musscher in England and two others which were at Manchester in 1857. There is a good small engraving by C. G. Lewis of this portrait, which is so sound, serious, and refined, so brilliant and yet so broad, as to rank high in the Dutch School. Its coloration and chiaroscuro are as masterly and simple as they are choice. The almost stately figure of the artist is clad in a loose black robe not unlike a cassock, and placed in the centre of the design. A row of books and sketches of shipping, for use in the seascape upon his easel, lie on the ground near the front, and receive the fullest light in the apartment, where nearly all else is the in darkness or covered by shadows surcharged with light that is reflected from without upon the walls, where, nevertheless, several pictures in their black frames form elements in a harmony of tone and tint which is of the very highest quality. Best of all the pictorial elements of this work is its noble style, which is marked by an almost classic repose. In this respect the fine and massively designed figure is conspicuous while it charms us by the spontaneity of its attitude. The transparency, breadth, and careful execution of this picture justify Waagen's admiration of it. Musscher was a pupil of A. Van Ostade, but he owed more to Rembrandt than to his master, and was most competent to follow either or both his models. This portrait, which Lord Northbrook lends, is worth going to the Academy to see. - Sir R. Wallace's E. De Witte, The Interior of a Church (123), is an instance of the application of Rembrandt's principles almost worthy of that master himself. It is remarkable for its pure tonality and the exquisite grading of light and shade displayed in the luminous shadows of the building, where it is hard to say whether the silvery half-tones of the clearstory, the gloom of the vault, the solidity of the great pier of the crossing (standing between the light and shade and partaking of both), or the choice breadth and truthful

ness of the middle distance, so difficult to treat,

is the most admirable element where all is fine.

NOTES FROM ATHENS.

I HAVE before now informed you of the efforts of the head master of the Gymnasium at Nauplia, who was intent on the discovery of the Temple of Artemis Orthia on the hill of Lycone, near Argos. The Ministry of Public Instruction gave him leave to make excavations on the site, which proved the existence of the sanctuary. He reports that the peribolus of the temple has been almost entirely laid bare. The length of the north wall was 12:30 mètres, and that of the eastern and western 980 mètres each. The eastern and western were connected

at the sixth mètre by an inner wall, a portion of which remains. There is an empty space 7:30 mètres long between the fragment of this interior wall and the western wall. The northwest was, however, surrounded by a wall of its own. This enclosed portion of the sanctuary has a mosaic floor, half formed of large pieces, the

other half of small ones.

Of the stones of the

peribolus some were not worked at all, the rest finished. The worked stones are almost all of the same dimensions, 1.10 mètres long, 035 broad, 0.35 thick. The unworked stones are of varying dimensions, from 070 to 160 mètres long and from 0:40 to 0.60 broad. Within and without the peribolus, it is reported, have been found various roof-tiles, lions' heads, and other fragments of the building; also fragments of marble drapery, also of an arm and a leg belonging to a great statue, which the report considers remains of one of the statues which, according to Pausanias, adorned the temple, to wit those of Apollo, Artemis, and Leto. They were the works of Polycleitus. On the east side of the peribolus a well-preserved torso of the marble statue of a female has been found. It is 0.20 mètre high. The head, hands, and feet are missing. The workmanship is admirable. The discovery of three muses of the Roman period shows that the sanctuary was visited and prosperous as late as the time of Geta and even of Constantius II., that is till the middle of the fourth century after Christ.

SPYR. P. LAMBROS.

Fine-Art Gossip.

of Tudor, of which there may be brought together considerable numbers, if the generosity of owners favours the plan. The gathering will, of course, include a large company of portraits, chief among which will be the works of Holbein and others of his time living in this country, such as the Hornebolts, Levina Teerlinck, Streter, and Zucchero. These alone would make an exhibition. If the Holbeins and other works which bear his name are but in sufficient numbers for general comparisons, our knowledge of art under the Tudors will gain in comprehensiveness and most of all in certainty. The directors will be glad to hear (at 121, Regent Street) of examples the owners will kindly lend.

MESSRS. MACMILLAN & Co. have in preparation a work on 'Relics of the Royal House of Stuart,' consisting of a series of plates drawn in colour by Mr. William Gibb, the artist who made the drawings for Mr. Hipkins's book on 'Musical Instruments' which we reviewed three

weeks ago. Mr. Gibb has obtained permission to make drawings of objects in the possession of the Queen and other owners of Stuart relics, and many of those now on view at the Stuart Exhibition will appear in the work. Descriptive letterpress will be added. The book may be expected to appear in the autumn.

A PROPOSAL has been made to publish reproductions by autotype process of the greatest possible number of drawings by Rembrandt scattered about in public and private collections. They will be permanent, and consist of the sketches, studies, and finished drawings of the great Dutch master, who may be called the father of modern art. MM. L. Bonnat, A. Bredius, E. Michel, E. J. Poynter, Ruland, Schoenbrunner, Scholten, Woermann, Colvin, and Bode will lend their aid to the work, which will be published in parts, each containing about fifty reproductions, to appear biennially, and by subscription. Mr. Thibaudeau, Green Street; MM. Danlos & Delisle, Quai Malaquais, Paris ; and Amsler & Ruthart, of Berlin, will take subscriptions.

MR. R. S. POOLE, Keeper of the Coins in the British Museum, was on Saturday last elected Yates Professor of Archæology at University College, in the place of Sir C. T. Newton, resigned. Mr. Poole, we understand, proposes to invite acknowledged authorities in various branches of the vast science of archæology, such as Dr. Tylor and Mr. Boyd Dawkins, to deliver courses of lectures at the college, and will himself defray the attendant expenses.

THE deaths of two distinguished French artists are announced. M. E. Lavieille, born in 1820, was a pupil of Corot, and began exhibiting landscapes at the Salon in 1844. He obtained a Third Class Medal in 1849, and medals in 1864 and 1870. In 1878 he obtained the Cross of the Legion of Honour. His night scenes became famous, and his 'Nuit à la Celle sous Moret sur Loing' is in the Luxembourg. Another noted work of his, 'La Crue de la Corbronne à Bretoncelles,' is in the museum at Rouen. M. E. Hédouin, born in 1819, was a pupil of Nanteuil and Delaroche. He also made his début at the Salon of 1844. He painted chiefly landscapes with figures, and was still more distinguished as an etcher. For painting he obtained a Second Class Medal in 1848, a Third Class one in 1855, and a rappel in 1857; for engraving, a medal in 1868, and a First Class Medal in 1872. He was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in the latter year.

THE King of Italy has just signed a decree authorizing the institution of a national School of Archæology, with Signor Fiorelli for its head. Burses for students are founded for three years: the first to be spent at Rome, the second in Naples under the direction of the Inspector of Excavations at Pompeii, the third in Greece. In accordance with this scheme chairs of Latin,

Art, and of Antiquities, are to be established at the Roman University.

In the February number of the Antiquary Mr. Roach Smith recurs to the subject of the Walls of Chester,' placing his views in a final form as against the Jacobean theory.

THOSE who constructed a highly combustible group of buildings in the immediate proximity touching it at several points - of the former home of the National Portrait Gallery at South Kensington little dreamed that from the authorities of Paris charged with the electric illumination of the Place du Carrousel they would be called upon to accept that tribute of imitation which is said to be the sincerest form of flattery. It appears from a recent protest in Le Temps that when the temporary offices of the Bureaux des Postes were removed from the site of the Palais des Tuileries a steam-engine, the function of which is to supply the lofty lamps which illuminate the Place in a very unpleasant manner, was removed to a cellar beneath the Salle des États in the Louvre itself (!), in close neighbourhood to all sorts of inflammable stores, offices of the Préfecture de la Seine, stables and magazines of forage, &c. Most Englishmen would claim for their country the monopoly of arrangements of this nature. For once Britons who blame their own land and are ashamed of everything British must be at fault. Let us hope the Louvre will not be burnt or blown up.

THEY are exhibiting in vitrines placed in the approach to the Salle Louis Lecaze of the Louvre from the Salles des Dessins about one hundred and fifty statuettes in marble and stone found during excavations at Carthage. In a short time these and other similar objects will be shown in a hall appropriated to them at the Louvre.

SOME Punic tombs of very early date have been discovered near ancient Carthage by the Abbé Delattre, during excavations made for the purpose. One of these tombs is of great interest as in it were found skeletons stretched on funereal couches, with arms, jewels, vases, &c.

THE Forum is about to be "ruined" by a roadbridge which is to cross its centre in order to continue the Via Cavour towards the river-a most unnecessary piece of vandalism, inasmuch as the traffic is not sufficient to throw a heavy

burden upon the present causeway at the end of

the Forum.

ed, and

THE new bridge at Rome, which crosses the Tiber obliquely to the island, is now nearly finished, entirely spoils the Temple of Vesta and the Temple of Fortuna Virilis. It is a hideous structure of iron.

NEAR the Olympian Exhibition at Athens has been discovered a very fine mosaic pavement about three mètres long. Near the reservoir, while planting some trees, an ancient building has been found, with a marble hydria, representing in relief a man standing, with two women, one seated, the other erect, with her head resting on her hand. On the Acropolis has been found the statue of a youth with chlamys seated, of the fourth century B.C., probably a Hermes.

THERE exists at Rouen an association of anti

quaries, artists, and lovers of history analogous to our Society for Protecting Ancient Buildings. This body has reported that under and near the Trésor and the Bibliothèque du Chapitre of the cathedral of their city there exists an extensive storehouse for forage, which the reporters declare to be dangerous to the famous church and its accessories.

MUSIC

THE WEEK.

ST. JAMES'S HALL.-London Symphony Concerts.
ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY.-Berlioz's 'Faust.'

MR. HENSCHEL'S Symphony Concerts were resumed on Tuesday, and as usual an excellent programme was provided. The performance of Beethoven's Symphony in D, No. 2, lacked distinction, particularly in the larghetto, but on the whole it was a fair rendering, and a large amount of justice was rendered to Wagner's 'Siegfried Idyl' and Mendelssohn's 'Hebrides' Overture. Mr. Willy Hess, the leader of Sir Charles Halle's orchestra, made an exceedingly favourable impression in Spohr's Violin Concerto in D minor, No. 9. His tone is not very powerful, but it is remarkably pure in quality, and he plays with charming refinement, never offending the ear by false intonation. At the end of the programme was an overture by Tschaïkowsky, for the first time in England. Its full title is 'Solemn Overture, 1812,' and in the catalogue of the composer's works given in Grove's 'Dictionary' it stands as Op. 49. The import of the work may be guessed by its name, and its general character is thoroughly national. Tschaïkowsky employs three subjects: a solemn theme, apparently adapted from an old Russian hymn tune; an air of a livelier character, probably also an adaptation; and a fragment of the 'Marseillaise.' With these materials the composer has woven a piece full of storm and stress, and noisily scored. It is clever, but its intrinsic value is very slight. Next Tuesday the Bow and Bromley Institute Choir will appear for the first time in St. James's Hall, and take part in Mendelssohn's 'Hear my Prayer.'

The performance of Berlioz's 'Faust' at the Albert Hall on Wednesday was noteworthy in more than one respect. The first appearance of Miss Margaret MacIntyre in a London concert-room was an interesting event in itself, considering the scarcity of high-class sopranos.

Miss MacIntyre's

voice is of the most beautiful quality, and it is rapidly increasing in volume. What she lacks is warmth of style, her rendering of Marguerite's airs being deficient in feeling and pathos. Mr. Iver McKay was somewhat overweighted in the part of Faust, but he has improved, and his enunciation was commendably distinct. The role of Mephistopheles is not well suited to Mr. Watkin Mills. His fine voice is, of course, in his

favour, but he cannot realize the sardonic spirit of the conception. The choir was as admirable as usual in this work, and Mr. Barnby refused the customary encores, for which he deserves a special tribute of praise.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

A Popular History of Music. By James E. Matthew. (Grevel & Co.) Lest any one should purchase this volume with the idea that it contains a su succinct, yet comprehensive sketch of musical history to the present time, it should be stated that the author only professes to go as Mozart, while in point fact he finishes

with Handel. Even if he had acquitted him self well within these limits his work would,

of course, have been of less value than Ritter's terse and well-written book, by far the best of the smaller histories of music which have yet appeared. Unfortunately, however, the book is unsatisfactory even in its narrow scope. It bears the impress of hurried compilation rather than that of complete knowledg of the subject. The actual errors are by no means few, and some of them show unaccountable carelessness. For example, on p. 51 we have an illustration of a clavichord

"beginning of the fifteenth century"; while two pages further back we read, with a nearer approach to truth, that " an attempt was made as early as the first half of the sixteenth century to apply keys to stringed instruments." Mr. Matthew also tells us that the virginal and spinet "were small and portable instruments." In fact the chapter on medieval instruments is

worse than worthless. Even when he comes to deal with Bach and Handel he is by no means on safe ground. Bach, he says, wrote five Passions and a similar work for Christmas. Then he speaks of a series of choruses in Handel's Solomon' commencing with "May no rash intruder," which, as every musician is aware, concludes the first part of the oratorio. Indeed, it is scarcely too much to say that the book swarms with misleading statements. Perhaps the author discovered his own shortcomings when he stopped short with the visit of the child Mozart to England, and left Haydn untouched. The volume is handsomely mely bound and printed, and the numerous illustrations are excellent. But utility should be the first consideration in a popular history of music.

Sims Reeves: his Life and Recollections. Written by Himself. (Simpkin, Marshall & Co.) -A more generally interesting and readable volume than the autobiography of an eminent singer could not well be imagined. We therefore opened the present book with pleasurable expectations, and closed it with a sense of disappointment. Its title is a complete misnomer; so far from being a straightforward record of the artistic experiences of the great vocalist, it is a mere hotchpotch, a few fugitive incidents in Mr. Reeves's own life being mingled in the strangest manner with the relation of events having no connexion whatever with himself, and merely put into print because they happened to come under his observation. Thus the opening chapter is entitled "A Dark Record," and describes a murder in such language that had the writer not been a singer he might possibly have won distinction in the domain of shilling fiction. The author says: "I do not write with regard to chronological order or ambitious excellence; indeed, my only hope is to enlist the readers [sic] sympathy by freely reciting a few circumstances in the wayward career of a singer." He omits to add that much of the book relating to himself is taken word for word from Mr. Sutherland Edwards's 'Life of Sims Reeves,' with the necessary alteration of the personal pronoun. Mr. Reeves promises " to enlarge these reminiscences" at an early date, and with the assistance of a literary friend he could not fail to produce a work of very great interest to professional and amateur musicians. The present

book could scarcely be more unsatisfactory than it is, and it is is in impossible to avoid regretting that it should have been placed before the public.

Musical Gossip.

A very attractive programme was put forward at the first of the Saturday Popular lar Concerts for the present year. The principal works were Mozart's Quintet in G minor, Beethoven's 'Kreutzer' Sonata for piano and violin, and Schubert's so-called Fantasia-Sonata in G, played by Sir Charles Halle. The unauthorized term "fantasia" should no longer be applied to this

work, as it is not necessary even as a means of identification, Schubert having written no other

sonata in the same key. Mrs. Henschel introduced a charming French song, 'Midi au Village,' by Mr. Goring Thomas.

On Monday the programme contained Beethoven's Quartet in F, Op. 59, No. 1; and Brahms's Pianoforte Quartet in A, Op. 26, the finest of the three works of this kind yet written by the German composer. Madame Haas gave a neat and refined rendering of Chopin's Impromptu

is a student at the Royal College of Music. For this reason her efforts should not be subjected to severe criticism,

HAYDN'S 'Seasons' was revived on Monday at the Shoreditch Town Hall by the Borough of Hackney Choral Association. A dozen years had elapsed since the work was last performed in London, at any rate on an important scale,

and the thanks of musicians are due to the Hackney society for restoring it to the concertroom. Unless, however, there should be some change in public taste, the charming work of the old master will not again meet with the general acceptance it once enjoyed. Monday's performance was in all respects satisfactory. Mrs. Hutchinson, Mr. Henry Piercy, and Mr. Robert Hilton rendered full justice to the solos; and the choir sang with vigour and intelligence under Mr. Prout's direction.

VERY little need be said in this place concerning Planquette's new comic opera, 'Paul Jones,' produced under Mr. Carl Rosa's direction at the Prince of Wales's Theatre last Saturday. That light comic opera need not be inartistic has been shown recently by the efforts of some of our English composers, but 'Paul Jones' is opéra bouffe of the flimsiest texture. The melodies are thin and conventional, and no musicianly effects are sought for, either in the vocal partwriting or the orchestration. The performance, however, is far above the average. Miss Agnes Huntington-who was noticed in the Atheneum as far back as 1882, when she appeared at one of Mr. Ganz's concerts-has a rich contralto voice, and sings with more finish than the majority of opéra bouffe performers. Miss Wadman and Mr. Templer Saxe are also vocally competent. The piece is mounted with remarkable brilliancy, and the chorus and orchestra are excellent.

MR. MAX HEINRICH and Mr. Emmanuel Moor gave the second of their series of recitals at the Steinway Hall on Wednesday afternoon. The rendering of nine numbers of Schumann's 'Liederkreis, Op. 39, by the former gentleman

proved him to be an able vocalist and a good musician. Mr. Moor is a pianist of much executive ability, but he was not heard in any work of high class, so that it is impossible to give him higher praise. A Sonata in a minor for piano and violin from his own pen, in which he was assisted by Mr. Wessley, made a favourable impression, chiefly on account of the freshness of the themes. This remark applies chiefly to the first and third movements.

'THE ROSE OF SHARON' was performed at Sir Charles Halle's concerts on Thursday last week, with Madame Nordica, Miss Hope Glenn, Mr. Lloyd, and Mr. Watkin Mills as the soloists.

The programme on Thursday this week contained Bizet's suite 'Roma,' the overtures to 'Genoveva' and 'L'Étoile du Nord,' and Liszt's 'Héroïde Élégiaque' for the first time.

M. BENJAMIN GODARD has nearly completed an opera entitled 'Dante et Béatrix, the libretto being from the pen of M. Édouard Blau. The work will be produced at the Paris Opéra Comique.

HERR ALBERT NIEMANN, the German tenor, who is associated most prominently with Wagnerian characters, announces his retirement.

THE Männergesangverein at Vienna has just

given its five hundredth concert. The society has been in existence forty-five years.

THE Schleswig Holstein festival will be held this year at Kiel in June next. Handel's 'Athaliah' will be included in the scheme.

The

WAGNER'S 'Tristan und Isolde' has just been produced at Mannheim with great success. principal rôles were taken by Herr Götjes and Fräulein Mohor.

THE Florence journal La Nazione declares positively that Boito has given the last touches further improve it. The libretto and the music are said to be in the highest degree original and masterly, and so carefully welded together that cuts could not be made without injuring the work. 'Nero' is to be produced at La Scala, Milan, in the carnival of next year.

THE statement that Madame Patti will appear again at the Paris Opéra before leaving for South America is contradicted by the Ménestrel.

MR. THEODORE THOMAS has arranged a series of a dozen orchestral concerts at the Chickering Hall, New York. Upon the outcome of this undertaking will depend the continuance or the disbandment of his famous orchestra.

A NEW Tonkünstler und Opern Lexicon,' by Emerich Kastner, is announced by Messrs. Brachvogel & Rauft, of Berlin.

MR. BUCHANAN's new play is a study in topsy-turvydom not wholly unlike some of the early efforts of Mr. Gilbert. That it survived the not very formidable ordeal of an afternoon performance is due to the fact that it is brightly conceived and fairly acted. While inspiring little sympathy and steering dangerously near triviality and folly, it interests and amuses, and the favourable verdict it received can scarcely be called unmerited. Whether the sterner ordeal of a nightly service as the regular bill can be successfully faced remains to be seen. A curious blending of mythologies, Gothic, Oriental, and classical, is embodied in the central idea. Milton's grim and-with due deference to one of the first of poets-unpoetical idea concerning "Olympus' faded aierarchy," which numbered among the followers of Satan in his revolt, and consequently among devils, the "Ionian gods" and all those

Who with Saturn old

Fled over Adria to the Hesperian fields, And oer the Celtic roam'd the utmost isles, lies at the bottom of the notion. Cupid for no very explicable reason has been imprisoned in

a bottle, like an Afreet, by

the famous Dr. Dee. The bottle has, in a fit of the spleen, been broken by a bankrupt and disinherited student living at the begin ning of the present century in Cambridge. So soon as he is released, Cupid, who is shabby, rusty, and equipped in the doublet and hose of our ancestors in Tudor times, asks after Queen Elizabeth. Learning that she is dead, and that Queen Anne has followed in her wake, he proclaims his indebtedness to his preserver and his readiness to further his fortunes so far as regards the hearts of those around him. Over their purse strings he has no control. Cupid and Plutus have nothing in common. He first, however, proclaims himself somewhat superfluously as the devil, or at least a devil, and is equally superfluously accepted as such by his releaser, who, in a fit of virtuous indignation, foratime refuses his services. Sounder

judgment than is at first apparent is shown in this recalcitrancy. When, assuming the disguise of a tutor and the prefix of "Doctor," the released god accompanies his pupil to Bath and mixes with him in fashionable society, his reappearance is productive of little except confusion. The affairs of the hero are mightily embroiled by his efforts, and quarrels, duels, and elopements become the order of the day. After undergoing a hearty wigging from the youth he has sought to benefit, Cupid changes his tactics, and with no small amount of trouble suc

ceeds in restoring peace and bringing matters to a happy termination.

This fantastic plot is evolved in dialogue some of which is amusing and charged with a fair amount of double entente. Excision is needed, though not to any serious extent. The whole is diverting, if not always in the way designed. Still the piece furnishes opportunity for quaint and effective costumes, and for some fairly good acting. Mr. Thorne plays in his quiet and amusing style as the discrowned god of love, with whom, it appears, the world was able to dispense for a couple of centuries; Mr. F. Thorne is broadly comic as a gouty and irascible bachelor of the Fielding type; Mr. Frank Gillmore and Miss Winifred Emery are acceptable as a pair of lovers; Mr. Cyril Maude is good as an eccentric "beau"; and Miss Marion Lea creates a favourable impression as a young and amorous widow. A warm welcome was afforded the novelty, which on Thursday was promoted to the evening bill.

The Dramatic Works of Edwin Atherstone. Edited by his Daughter, Mary Elizabeth Atherstone. (Stock.) -In publishing for the first time these dramas Miss Atherstone is accomplishing an act of filial piety. Her reward must, it is to be feared, be found in the sense of duty performed. To the present generation these works make no appeal. Their composition dates from 1824 to 1834, during which period they were, as Miss Atherstone confesses, offered many times to the managers of the then great London theatres. Mr. Atherstone was known as the author of 'The Last Days of Jerusalem,' 1821; 'A Midsummer Day's Dream,' 1824; the first six books (subsequently expanded to thirty) of 'The Fall of Nineveh,' 1828; and by an historical romance in three volumes, 1830. These works had secured him a praise now difficult to comprehend. Lord Carlisle appears to have declared 'The Fall of Nineveh' the finest epic in the English language; the Edinburgh Review to have said of the author, "His style is gorgeous and flowing; his descriptions are magnificent"; and the Church of England Quarterly to have said, ""The Fall of Nineveh' will be found in every library side by side with the Iliad and the 'Paradise Lost." On the strength of these things Kemble and Kean seem to have

expressed their willingness to act in two out of the three plays now produced. It is possible and 'Philip' (of Macedon) might, with the rethat 'Pelopidas; or, the Deliverance of Thebes,' quisite alterations, condemnation. Worse plays had such fortune. It is, indeed, difficult to imagine what dramas might not in the so-called "palmy days" pass muster. 'Love, Poetry, Philosophy, and Gout' could scarcely have hoped for success. Nowadays the time for distorted verse is over, and

in those days have escaped

the scholarship, the not unpalatable cynicism,

and other similar gifts will not compensate for the stiltedness and formality of the whole. Blank verse lines such as

In very sooth I nothing know of this

will not, in spite of one or two curious instances to the contrary, do for the present age. The publication of these plays is, accordingly, to be regretted, as it will lead only to rebuff and mortification for the gentlewoman who two generations ago was her father's amanuensis and is now his editor.

Bramatic Gossip.

THE Garrick Club has received of late two valuable additions to its famous collection of theatrical pictures. Towards the close of last year Lord Fife presented it with a fine portrait of Garrick by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which came out of the Fife Gallery, having been painted expressly for a previous earl. During the present week Mr. Irving has given a picture by Clint of a scene from 'A New Way to Pay Old Debts,' with Kean as Sir Giles Overreach. This large and powerful work-it is 7 ft. 7 in. by 5 ft. 4 in. -a masterpiece of Clint, has long been a principal ornament of the Beef-Steak Room in the Lyceum. It includes portraits of Munden, Oxberry, Penley, Harley, Powell, Mrs. Orger, and Mrs. Knight; with the painter, Attwood the musician, C. Bagg, Hughes (Kean's secretary), and an unnamed figure. The Garrick collection is rich in Clints. There is some thought of placing the new acquisitions over the smoking-room fireplace.

MR. JOHN SARGENT is painting a portrait of Miss Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth.

In the revival at the Globe of 'She Stoops to Conquer' the only noteworthy novelty is the assumption by Miss Carlotta Leclercq of the character of Mrs. Hardcastle, of which she is an ideal representative. The Tony Lumpkin of Mr. Lionel Brough and the Miss Hardcastle of Miss Kate Vaughan are well known. The representation-which includes Mr. Wm. Herbert, a little inflexible as Young Marlowe, and Miss May Whitty, superfluously kittenish as Miss Neville-is brisk and satisfactory. After the first performance on Saturday last, 'How it Happened,' a monologue, in which Miss Vaughan reappears and repeats a well-known dance, was

added.

THE version of 'Richard III.' in which Mr. Richard Mansfield will appear at the Globe Theatre is that prepared for the stage by Mr. William Winter.

'STILL WATERS RUN DEEP' is given to-night at the Criterion. A new comedy by Mr. F. C. Burnand and a revival of 'The Road to Ruin' are promised.

MR. WILSON BARRETT has elected to reappear at the Princess's Theatre in 'Hamlet.' The event is fixed for the 28th inst. Miss Eastlake will be the Ophelia. 'Hamlet' will be given for two weeks, after which 'Good Old Times,' previously announced, will be produced.

'THE LOVE STORY' will be reproduced at a

series of afternoon performances at the Olympic, with Miss Janet Achurch in her original part of the heroine.

'LA CAGNOTTE' of MM. Labiche and Delacour, a five-act Palais Royal farce, is the latest novelty at the Royalty. Geoffroy's part of Colladan; and M. and Madame Ricquier, M. Dalbert, M. Feroumont, and Mdlle. Charlotte Raynard take part in a rather noisy and extravagant representation.

M. Schey now plays M.

'HENRI TROIS ET SA COUR,' with which, at the Comédie Française, in 1828, Alexandre Dumas made his first serious start as a dramatist, also an epoch-marking piece in the history of Romanticism, has been revived with great

care at the same theatre. M. Worms was Henri III., M. Febvre the Duc de Guise, M. Mounet - Sully the Comte de Saint-Mégrin, and Mdile. Brandès the Comtesse de SaintMégrin.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.-S. J. E.-C. D.-W. F. B. L.E. D.-C. R. H.-received,