recklessness than delicacy. It contains a good many sharp hits at "British Females," and no sparing castigation of husbands in general, together with a few severe cuts at "pious" people and sentimental orators. This clever lady is by no means behind her fellow-authoresses in the ars execrandi, which, till now, we imagined, like "breaking ribs," by no means sport for ladies." The instances before us, of three female writers of different quality all agreeing in this taste, has convinced us to the contrary. One example will, perhaps, suffice to show the fellowfeeling which unites "the lofty and the low," so to speak, in this remarkable common cause:- 66 For my part I thought it a great pity that people could not be d-d as long as they liked, especially when so many take such pains to go to the d-1. It really is not worth while if it is only to be for a short visit."

Of the four novels which have passed under our review at this time, we are amused to find the one which, being "nautical," might have been more likely to err in this manner, the only sinless volume as regards the fact which has so much startled us. Ralph Rutherford is honest and pious, and bold and respectable, and sees no shame in such qualities. It is a good sea story, with considerable bustle and some sentimentality, and contains nothing to make "the judicious grieve.”

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NOTES OF THE OPERA.

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Ar the close of last month we left the public in the pains of tancy, to be rapidly converted into the pleasures of fruition when Sontag -that world-wide favourite-should make her first appearance for the season at Her Majesty's Theatre. She came back to us on the 3rd of May, with her lovely voice unimpaired, her personal attractions undiminished, and her whole aspect breathing of the youth and purity of which she seems the perennial representative. For her début she chose the "Figlia del Reggimento," and justified her choice by the perfection with which she not only sang but acted the part of the lively, bewitching Maria, the light-hearted, charming cantinière. Where real genius exists, there is no monopoly of a popular part, and Madame Sontag's Figlia may take its place beside that of Jenny Lind, and fairly challenge comparison. The umpire who should have to decide between two such nightingales might very safely say, with Sir Roger de Coverley, that there was an amazing deal to be said on both sides. We need not say how rapturously Madame Sontag was received.

In the following week the ferment into which the public mind had been thrown by the reputation achieved by Alary, in Paris, in his new opera buffa of the Tre Nozze, was allayed by its production. That there was much in this opera that was pleasant we have no hesitation in admitting, but that it realised all we had been told of it we are by no means prepared to grant. Still there was a light, agreeable style, a sparkle and melody running through it, which made every new situation welcome; and, like a mountain stream, it danced along in the sunlight,

Ralph Rutherford. A Nautical Romance. By the Author of "The Petrel," &c., &c. Colburn and Co.

refreshing and gladdening in its gay course, giving new colour to the flowers it passed, and bringing out their perfume.

One of these flowers, certainly a stranger to the opera parterre till now, was the teaching and dancing scene, in which Luisa endeavours to improve the carriage of her substantial and respectable lover-her mother's choice, not her own. The charming Luisa, like a little sylph, flitted around and about the astonished, bewildered, and shame-faced inamorato, personated by Lablache in a manner sufficiently bewitching, taking liberties with her voice such as any other than Madame Sontag's could with difficulty surmount, for dancing and singing, though often classed together, cannot be expected to improve the latter; this, however, was an exceptional case, for we knew not which to admire most—the graceful movements or the warbling of the playful and fascinating tormentor of the most patient of enamoured giants, who laboured to learn the English phrase she taught him, infinitely to the amusement of the audience. From the spirit and humour with which he played the part, we should hardly have suspected Lablache to be suffering from indisposition; such, however, was the case, as his voice occasionally betrayed, in spite of his good-natured efforts. This was unfortunate for the débutant, Signor Ferranti, who had no opportunity of exhibiting his undoubted talent in the famous duo. All he did sing gave promise of excellence when a wider field opens to his powers.

Madame Giuliani returned to us in this lively opera, and played her part with her accustomed spirit. Gardoni's sweet and tender voice was heard in great perfection; his romance in the third act was like a delicious dream of beauty.

However frequently the eye is attracted by the announcement of the bewitching "Barbiere," the same delight takes possession of the mind in the anticipation of hearing its magic music; and, when Sontag is the heroine, we resign ourselves to exclaim with the old poet,

Come, little syren, rob me of my heart

With that enchanting voice!

Perhaps Rosina is one of the parts the most calculated to suit Madame Sontag as the fascinating lady-love of Figaro's gay master-at least, we are always inclined to think so when we see her in it. It would appear that we are not singular in our opinion, to judge by the enthusiasm with which her performance was received by a crowded audience, to whom, one might have imagined, it was entirely new, so fresh and gushing was the applause which followed all her songs. As usual, her unrivalled "Una voce" met with triumphant success; "Cet air tout embaumé de souvenirs" was never more entrancing than the other night, or varied with more delicate and amazing skill.

We were glad to hail Signor Ferranti in a part which gave him scope. His Figaro was full of rapidity and fun; and the celebrated "Largo al factotum" was seldom in better hands. He has but little to learn; and after a short acquaintance with the stage, he will be all that the most fastidious can desire.

Lablache had "tricked his beams, and with new spangled ore" came forth with his wonted power, singing and acting as only he can sing and act. We never heard him give the "Quando mi sei viaria" better. Calzolari was admirable, particularly in the final sestett.

But we must not linger too long with our old and tried favourites, but June.-VOL. XCII. NO. CCCLXVI.

R

hasten on, for fear our space should fail to tell of the revival of one of the world's wonders-the capo d'opera of the greatest composer for the orchestra which the heaven of melody has yet spared to earth,

Beethoven's "Fidelio" has twice been played at Her Majesty's Theatre, and it need scarcely be said has twice carried with it triumph and admiration. "Fidelio" was composed, as it were, in a fit of enthusiasm for the plot of another master, suggestive of the music which might fittingly express the sentiments intended to be conveyed. It came out in Vienna in 1805; but was found dull by a French military audience, fond of gayer and lighter compositions, and not alive to sympathy with the noble struggles of Leonora. The offended genius, on finding his sublime inspirations had fallen on sterile soil, withdrew from opera composition in disgust; and for many years few but those gifted like himself had an opportunity of hearing his grand conceptions. Sontag the inimitable Sontag, who possesses, it is said, a marvellous power of reading music at a glauce, and entering at once into the most refined recesses of its merits, in a manner unknown but to herself was almost the sole female singer who thoroughly appreciated the excellence of the great author of "Fidelio"--she it was who chiefly supported his celebrated mass in D minor. But it is of Mademoiselle Sophie Cruvelli that we have now to speaka new, a charming, a perfect Leonora, whose voice of sweet and thrilling power seems as though it

Wacht die Schöpfungauf!

and whose transcendent beauty seals the charm of her delicious tones. Transferred from the German to the Italian stage, "Fidelio" has gained all it required to make it one of the most popular of operas, even with those whose judgment is less severe and exigeant than the Germans; but while the sweet Italian tongue lends the music grace, the glorious composition will point to higher aims amongst the composers of the sunny South, and temper their sweetness with the strength it sometimes wants. Mademoiselle Cruvelli had a hard task set before her; she has accomplished it in a manner which will make her name in future one mentioned only as a record of great difficulties conquered by determined genius.

She is a fine actress as well as an accomplished vocalist, and seldom has the opera stage witnessed a more magnificent personation than that she offered of the unfortunate wife of the imprisoned Florestan.

Mr. Sims Reeves is admirable as the husband, both in acting and singing; and nothing could surpass his opening air of the second act, or the feeling he gave to the dungeon scene.

Signor Mercuriali deserves praise for his Jacquino; and Madame Giuliani, by her correctness and fine knowledge of her art, does much to make the grand scenes effective.

Massol is very fine; Gardoni, Calzolari, Pardini, F. Lablache, and the other first-rate voices in the magnificent choruses, exert all their power and genius, and render the whole a triumph.

Balfe must be gratified to have his exertions so nobly seconded.

Alas! we have left ourselves no room to talk of Zerlina and her dangerous lover! We cannot now relate how much "Un corto balsamo" did our hearts good; we cannot now prate of her conquests, nor tell all we desired to do of the marvels of the ballet.

Next month we will indemnify ourselves.

VINDICATION OF MIRABEAU.*

THE correspondence now first given to the public by M. de Bacourt has been known for a long time. Most authors who have latterly written upon the French revolution have adverted to it. The extracts of some of the memoranda written by Mirabeau for the use and guidance of the court, and his letter to the king, dated May 10th, 1790, have been published, but not the bulk of the correspondence, which is calculated to place the often-discussed relations of one of the most celebrated characters of the Revolution with the court in a new light. A creature of passion, yet possessed of an energy and decision which yielded to no opposition, and an audacity of purpose which shrank before no difficulties, Mirabeau has been generally supposed to have been bribed to use his influence in stopping the progress of republicanism by a pension, and the promise of such a diplomatic or ministerial post as he should select after the reestablishment of the royal authority. His conduct in so doing, violently attacked by some, has been as zealously defended by others. himself looked upon these letters as his apology. In a note directed to his literary executor, the Count de la Marck, dated 18th July, 1790, a few months previous to his death, and only two months after he had entered into relations with the court, he, after thanking the count for receiving and taking charge of the correspondence, adds, "My courage revives at the idea that such a man as you will not suffer that I shall be totally misunderstood. Either I shall be mown down soon, or I shall leave in your hands noble elements of apology. Most truly do I reckon among the number (the kind of divination, which made you my friend, when so many vulgar men were busy in arousing the very echoes against me, or were endeavouring to bind me down to their measures."

Mirabeau

The Count de la Marck, a descendant of one of the most illustrious and ancient houses of Europe, and a prince of Arenberg, was of undoubted monarchical principles, and his connexion with Mirabeau originated, according to his own avowal, in his efforts made to detach that great man from his party, and bring him over to that of a constitutional monarchy.

"A stranger to France," wrote the count, "thirty-six years after the epoch in question, "circumstances of a particular and purely private nature had made me enter the service of that country: it was my duty to obey the king; my sentiments, my gratitude attached me in a peculiar degree to his person, as well as to that of the Queen Marie Antoinette. I wished to contribute to the preservation of the throne, as also to the defence of the unfortunate king who then filled it. To bring back to the cause of this king, the Count Mirabeau, who appeared to be the most violent and the most dangerous enemy of his throne, and to be enabled to rank him among his most powerful defenders, appeared to me to be the most essential service I could render him: that is the object which I proposed to myself, and I set about it with so much the greater resolution as I had satisfied myself that injured self-love, and spite provoked by injustice, were far more at the bottom of his enmity than any real feeling of hatred to the court, or positive inclination for the democracy."

"I have had too many intimate relations with this celebrated orator that my name should not be one day remembered in connexion with his, and

*Correspondance entre le Comte de Mirabeau et le Comte de la Marck pendant les années 1789, 1790, et 1791. Receuille, mise en ordre, et publiée par M. Ad. de Bacourt, ancien Ambassadeur de France près la cour de Sardaigne. 3 tomes.

that various surmises should not be made upon the influence that I obtained over him; so much so, that absolute silence on my part could only become the source of misinterpretation. Moreover, it is my duty to break this prolonged silence, to do that justice which is due to the king and to the queen, so that the memory of the Count Mirabeau should not remain compromised, when, according to my opinion, it ought to be honoured."

"I possess authentic materials which will place the conduct of Louis XVI., that of Marie Antoinette, and the manner in which Mirabeau was connected with those illustrious personages, in their true light. My relations with this giant of the revolution are generally known, but under a false aspect. They have already been misrepresented in several works: truth will be more honourable for all parties."

"Those who thought that I only sought the acquaintance of the Count Mirabeau in order to attach him to the court party, and have seen nothing but an intrigue in my connexion with him, have deceived themselves; the date of these relations goes back to a period of two years before the revolution."

"As soon as the reunion of the three orders with the states-general had been brought about, we both of us held that there was nothing so well calculated to benefit France as a constitutional monarchical government. Of all kings Louis XVI. was best adapted to carry this idea into effect. Never greedy of power, he was in no way jealous of preserving his authority as it had been exercised up to 1789. Not only did he resign himself to the idea, but from the affection he bore to his people, he was led sincerely to believe that a constitutional government was best adapted for them, and hence he desired it. His own character, besides, enabled him to see with a certain satisfaction, that he would no longer have the personal charge of so great a responsibility. And I can add with as much certainty as conviction, that the queen partook in this respect the opinions and inclinations of Louis XVI. The materials in my portfolio will establish these assertions beyond the possibility of dispute.'

These are most important statements. They come late in vindication of the character of Mirabeau, for seldom has more abuse been heaped upon the memory of any public man than the herd of biographers have brought to bear upon that of the "Plebeian Count;" but they come still later to vindicate the characters of the unfortunate Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, concerning whose innocence none but a depraved, jealous democracy could ever entertain a doubt. Nothing proves more remarkably that misapprehensions have existed with regard to the real character of Mirabeau, than the inconsistencies of biographers, who agree only in one point-namely, handing down to posterity the vilifications and calumnies of his contemporaries. Thus, for example, we find one writer asserting that he was positively a creature treacherous to his own party, and pensioned by the court; that he tampered for a dissolution of the assembly and the convocation of a house with a monarchical majority at the very time of his death; whilst another is equally unjust to his memory in asserting, "that though he aimed at popularity, he wished for power, and secretly planned the destruction of the monarchy!"

There is no doubt that the count's antecedents are not in his favour; but his early intercourse with young and dissipated officers, and the very low state of court morality at the time, must be taken into consideration. A hundred peccadillos of equally serious import with those committed by young Mirabeau were forgiven to many a one who was not induced by personal neglect and positive persecution and injury to fling himself into the arms of the popular party. The natural impetuosity of Mirabeau's