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most ridiculously: some appearing in dresses the fashion of the present day, and in the same piece, without regard to consistency, others in dresses of the time of Charles II., and some even centuries previous to that.

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Tom Noddy's Secret, the second production of the month, is a most amusing trifle, but more ridiculous than natural. The incidents are something of the following effect. Capt. Ormond, (Mr. Heming,) after the fight at Worcester between the troops of Cromwell and the Royalists, finds on the field of battle a child laying on the dead body of a female. He takes pity on the boy, and as he is about to fly the country, being attached to Charles II., he places him under the protection of a school-master of Worcester, Mr. Thos. Noddy, (Mr. Strickland,) promising to forward for his support a yearly stipend, which promise he most punctually fulfils. The supposed boy it afterwards appears is a girl, and the worthy school-master is so long "thinking" about writing to the tector, that years roll on, and ere he has made up his mind, the Captain returns to England, and writes to Noddy that he is coming to see his child. Gabrielle, (the supposed boy,) now grown to an elegant and beautiful young woman, is brought from school to meet the Captain, is informed for the first time of the mistake about her sex, and determines to appear before her protector in man's clothes. When Ormond arrives, he is much pleased with "his boy," and wishes him to leave Noddy's immediately, but this does not exactly suit the lady, and she, therefore, declares she is in love with Mary, the school-master's niece; and Mary, (Miss Cooper,) entering at the moment, gives her an opportunity of making a desperate attack of love; in the midst of which enters Inkpen, (Mr. Buckstone,) Mary's betrothed, who, of course, is desperately jealous at seeing a young man kissing her, and a most laughable scene takes place, which ends by Inkpen challenging Gabrielle. Noddy, to prevent the Captain's rage, and disappointment falling on his head, has at length determined to explain. matters by writing to him, and concludes his letter with "the bearer of this is Gabrielle." The niece is entrusted to give it to the lady, and not finding an opportunity, and not knowing the contents, makes her own lover, Inkpen, the bearer of the letter. The Captain is astounded, scarcely knowing what to make of it; but supposes Inkpen to be a girl dressed in man's clothes, and a very ludicrously rich scene ensues, but, of course, all is explained by the entrance of Gabrielle and Mary. Ormond who has, without knowing it, seen the lady in female attire, and been fascinated with her charms, marries her, and so ends one of the most ridiculous plots ever conceived, and one of the most laughable farces ever produced. Too much praise cannot be awarded to Mr. Strickland's Mr. Thos. Noddy: it was a most perfect and beautiful formance, and stamps Strickland as a first-rate actor. His in order that I may not forget to remember,' his 'little individual,'

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his tying knots in his handkerchief, and changing his ring from one finger to the other, and several other points in the piece, were excellent. In fact, it is many a day since we have seen such acting in a farce, and Farren could not have done the character better. Mr. Buckstone, in Inkpen, was as amusing as it was possible to be-his genuine comic manner brought down roars of laughter; and in the scene in which the Captain takes him for a female, his face and person altogether had the most ridiculous effect. Mr. Heming's Captain Ormond-Miss Cooper's Mary, were very respectable performances. Miss Taylor appeared to great advantage in the character of Gabrielle. Her style of acting was good, and in the boy's clothes she looked exceedingly well. The farce concluded amidst roars of laughter and applause.

A Lesson for Ladies, Tom Noddy's Secret, and Married Life, are performed together at this house three or four times a week, and attract a numerous audience. Mr. W. Lacy has lately taken the character of Mr. Lynx in the last named piece; and we think it is his best character, at least the best that we have seen him in.

COVENT GARDEN.

THE season at this theatre commenced on Monday last. Mr. Macready has secured a powerful company of tragedians and comedians: among the names appear those of Anderson, Elton, Macready, Phelps, Serle, Vandenhoff, Warde, F. Vining, Meadows, Harley, Bartley, and Strickland:-Mesdames Helen Faucit, Vandenhoff, Taylor, Charles, E. Phillips, Humby, and P. Horton; and in the operatic department are more respectable names than graced the bills last season: among which, Frazer, Lefler, Burnett, Mrs. Serle, and Miss Rainforth, are worthy of notice. We trust the lessee will use each performer according to his or her merit, and not proceed, as he has hitherto done, on the plan of shelving.' The play chosen for the opening night was, Shakspeare's Coriolanus, and the hero, a character he cannot perform, Macready wisely gave to Vandenhoff; the latter's acting in Caius Marcius, is anything but perfect, yet it is better than Macready's performance of that character. Mr. Ward and Mr. Serle's Cominius and Titus Lartius, were the best performances of the tragedy.-Mr. Phelps was anything but happy in Tullus Aufidius, and the Volumnia of Mrs. Warner was as bad as it could be.-Miss Vandenhoff was far too quiet for the Wife of Coriolanus could she dispose of a quantity of her gentleness to Mrs. Warner, and receive in exchange a grain (a grain would be sufficient,) of that lady's fury, the acting of both might be improved. The tragedy did not go off with eclat; though the pit and gallery were well filled, the boxes would not have been any the less respectable for a few orders. God save the Queen was very poorly sung, and then the audience thought proper to call on Mr. Macready, who made a speech, short and appropriate. The old

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farce of High Life below Stairs concluded the entertainments, and at half-price the house was more respectably filled.

It is the intention of the lessee of this establishment next week to produce from the original text, Shakspeare's sublime play of The Tempest; and if cast powerfully, we do not doubt but that it will prove a great attraction. According to the bills of the day, a new drama, a new opera, and a new tragedy, are in active preparation. We trust they will be brought forward with all possible speed, as a very long announcement is almost the worst fault a manager can be guilty of.

MUSIC.

ENGLISH OPERA.

Our anticipations of the attraction of the The Devil's Opera, have been fully realised. Notwithstanding the cruel changes it has been forced to undergo, notwithstanding all the disadvantages of a wretched chorus, and ineffective band, the excellence of the music has triumphed over every obstacle, and the opera has been played thirty-three consecutive nights, to the fullest houses that have been seen at the Lyceum, since the production of Barnett's "Mountain Sylph." The greatest loss "The Devil's Opera" could have sustained was in the person of Miss Rainforth, whose graceful and faultless personification of Pepino gave a charm and fascination to the part which vanished with her departure. Her singing and acting in the duet with Miss Poole, "Fond seducer," was the perfection of playfulness and elegance, and her duet with Burnett in the last scene but one, in which she confesses (quelle pensée celeste!) that she loves him still displayed all the enthusiasm which the music and situation required-in fact, she almost warmed Mr. Burnett into a shade of animation, which of itself was no mean achievement.-Mr. Shrivall, the present representative of the part formerly performed by Frazer, is entitled to great praise for his perseverance and industry-when we consider that he had scarcely two days to master the words and music of so difficult a rôle, we must not be surprised at a few defects-and though, on the first night he described Wieland as 66 an Egyptian from the East,"-and the second night, still more succinctly, as an agent of his ". -we must allow for a nervousness which it would have been scarcely possible to avoid-in fact we are only surprised that he did not describe him as an Egyptian from the West" or even that he described him at all, considering that he is a perfect nondescript-a non sequitur of the given causes of his production. One of Mr. Frazer's habitual sore throats procured us the almost unheard of felicity of seeing the part of Herman executed by a Mr. Mearsan individual of sufficient portliness to make three at least of Mr. Burnett. Miss Horton must have been rather gratified at this accession of substance adipose, in the person of her lover, and future companion in the exertion of that "sweetest science, the mutual power to please" which, by-the-by, if it be a science, we assert with due submission to Mr. George Macfarren (the dramatist), must be an innate one-and if we admit this, we may add to the already superhuman achievements of "The Devil's Opera," that a line therein has overthrown and proved to be absurd, the theory on which is founded the whole of Locke's hitherto immortal (as Paddy would say)" Essay on the Human Understanding "--because if there be innate sciences, surely there must be innate ideas;-but we presume that Mr.

Macfarren speaketh allegorically-which Voltaire translates anintelligibly (chum-wa-hum! ),-Miss P. Horton has done wonders-she has played two difficult parts in the opera, and both well;-to her, and to her alone has been owing the possibility of performing the piece for the last few nights-for, what with Frazer's sore throats, and Burnett's craving for sea baths, the opera was exceeding likely to have departed "unto the Devil," had it not been for this talented and deserving young singerwho may be literally said to have sung the music allotted to two parts :we candidly confess, that in the duet, "Fill the goblet to the brim," we vastly prefer Miss Horton to Mr. Burnett-c'est notre avis.-Mr. George Lejeune advances with the speed of an ostrich-he has far passed the boundaries of perfection in his part, and is in a fair way of coming back by a circular progression to the point from which he set out. By-the-by, talking of points, Mr. G. Lejeune's acting is all points-wherever it is next to an impossibility to produce a point, there, in this gentleman's hands a point is sure to be-and such a point! His singing, as well as acting is all points-we can almost see the mark staccato, on every note, (or rather sound, for notes they are not,) which he produces-his vocalization wants filing most astonishingly-let him file, if he wish to become a singer-his father, Mr. Lejeune, who is himself "a jolly old file!" to speak "multitudinously," and one of the best professors of singing in England, would help to grind down a few of his points to something like glabrity, or smoothness-as to the points in his acting, if he desire to improve them by diminishing their frequency, let us recommend him to Mr. S. Jones, who has no points at all-nothing but rough edgesgruff declivities -verbum sap. sat.-let him take the hint. Mrs. Serle is in our opinion worth two of Mrs. Seguin-her acting is much more natural and easy-her singing quite as good, if not better-and her voice infinitely more pleasing. We wish however she would occasionally lay aside the continual smile that graces her jolie bouche-which, though captivating to nous autres jeunes etourdis, is at least out of place when her part requires "a spice" of melancholy.-And so much for the singers. The success of "The Devil's Opera" affords a new and triumphant proof that to want of liberal patronage alone can be attributed the unflourishing state of dramatic music in this country. As a composition it entitles Mr. G. A. Macfarren to a place among the most distinguished living musicians; and we think we may assert, without being considered hyperbolical, that there are few existing composers who could have married musical ideas to the libretto of "The Devil's Opera," with more complete success. Let us consider for a moment the claims of those who have for the last few years carried away the palm of excellence, and shone as stars of the first magnitude in the hemisphere of sound. Before all others, in genius as in celebrity, stands Rossini, the composer of the finest opera since the "Der Freischutz" of Weber. Unhappily for music and its votaries, this extraordinary writer has for a long period ceased to produce operas-either, having exhausted his imagination in the composition of his chef d'œuvre, or, (to which opinion we incline), fearing that he can produce nothing to surpass his "Guillaume Tell," he prefers allowing his fame to remain stationary, lest by any work of inferior merit, he should fail in sustaining the distinguished position he holds-that of the greatest dramatic composer now living. Moreover, Rossini, though he may never have read the essays of Lord Bacon, must be instinctively aware of what that great man asserted, with as much eloquence as truth, in regard to popularity: viz,, that the multitude worship the rising rather than the setting sun. Next to Rossini ranks the composer of "La Muette de Portici," and "Fra Diavolo "-creations that will live for ever-creations, that place Auber among those, whom fame will not allow to be for

* We need hardly say that we allude to Guillaume Tell.

gotten; but their greatness has been rather dimmed than lustred, by the subsequent productions of their author. In fact, Auber though a gifted is not a great man; he renders the interest of his art, subservient to his own-he thinks fast-writes carelessly—and grows rich—but effects little or nothing now, (though he seldom brings forward less than two operas annually), towards the advancement of music as a science. Yet, let us be grateful for what he has effected-enough in all conscience to smother censure; let us snatch the scattered beauties that abound in his "Gustave" -his "Bayadere"-his "Philtre "-his "Lestocq"-and above all, his "Domino Noir"-operas replete with elegance, though wanting in the unity and connected design of his two great works. Meyerbeer comes next, with his romantic and grotesque giganticisms, in which the inexhaustible genius of Scribe-that polyglot among dramatists-shines almost as pre-eminent as his own. "Robert le Diable "—" Les Huguenots leviathans, vast, terrible, mis-shapen-with their universe of scenic effecttheir volcanic masses of sound-painfully exciting-fatiguing to the mind -by a feverish restlessness which gives no rest, no repose to the mind's ear. Consider them as works of art-strip them of their academical habiliments their grand and fiery orchestra-their voluptuous ballettheir dazzling decorations and enchanting scenery-alter the mise en scene -and in their nakedness, they would scarcely bear the eagle eye of strict analysis-they would become rich prey for the soured spirit of the critic -and, in fact, would lose half their grandeur, with their clothing-their effect so brilliant, so imposing, is but the result of abstract ornament. To speak plainly, the operas of Meyerbeer, though often evincing indications of the rarest genius, regarded as scientific creations, can only be classed among the first order of second rate productions. Yet we must confess that in alluding to them, we can well afford to exclaim with Horace: 66 -Ubi plura nitent in carmine non ego paucis Offendar maculis."

After these three, and only after them, from the fact that, as yet, he has not distinguished himself as a dramatic composer, we should place Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the king of faëry music-the magician of dreams -whose glowing and exuberant imagination is so remarkably developed in his orchestral overtures; his "Melusina"-his "Isles of Fingal ". his "Midsummer Night's Dream"-his "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage"-all of them visions-glimpses of another world-a world of romance and poetry-felt-breathed-comprehended only by those who build castles in the air and weep at their destruction.

"When the cloud is scattered

The rainbow's glory is fled."

The effect of Mendelssohn's music on us, is as the effect of the poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley-after perusing which, we awake as from a dream -to behold the nothingness of reality-to own the infinitude of the shadowy empire of imagination. Perhaps immediately after Mendelssohn,

* Perhaps we are unjust in excluding Spontini and Marschner from the rank which their admirers claim for them among the first composers of the day-we must candidly avow that, though we admit their great endowments, we do not think them worthy of being classed among writers of such superlative genius as Rossini and Auber.

+ To these let us add his symphonies in C minor and A-productions of amazing genius and unfettered imagination, both dramatic pictures.-We need scarcely name St. Paul, the most picturesque and poetical oratorio since Handel's immortal Israel in Egypt, with which of course we do not for a moment compare it-whatever we might be inclined to do, in speaking of some other oratorios of Handel, and especially of the overrated and mis-called sublime Creation of Haydn, Mendelssohn has written an opera on "The Wedding of Camacho" from Don Quixote, but it is a boyish production, he having been only fourteen when he produced it. He will not allow of its being performed, though the overture and some of the concerted pieces need not shame him even now.