THE THEATRES.
THE event of the week, the Stage-presentation of the Patrician's Daughter at Drury Lane, which had been announced for Thursday, has been postponed till this evening; and we write of it only from the impression of a former perusal in print. We could not, however, perceive in this drama any of the elements of success : whatever it may be as a poem, it is deficient in the grand stage-essential, action ; and it affords little opportunity for scenic display : the passion is of a petty kind, unsuited to tragedy ; the characters are inconsistent, the incidents improbable, and the language is inappropriate to persons of the present day. The cast, indeed, is strong ; and all that powerful acting and good manage- ment can do to render its representation effective will be done : more- over, Mr. CHARLES DICKENS has furnished the Patrician's Daughter with a letter of introduction to the plebeian public, in the shape of a prologue.
The only novelty to be recorded is a light and lively trifle at the Haymarket, called The Dowager, neatly constructed and smartly writ- ten by CHARLES MAT'HEWS ; who has not only fitted himself and his wife with characters exactly suited to their peculiar talents, but has produced a very pleasant little piece, affording opportunities for other performers also. Madame VESTALS is the " Dowager " ; a young and lovely widowed Countess, who is treated as an impostor by her nieces, because they had imagined their aunt to be a formal old frump " all bone and buckram," and had got scent of a plot to palm an actress on them as their unseen relative. The equivoke is well sustained, with amusing situations and sprightly badinage : to which VESTRIS gives due effect by her personal attractions and polished style. CHARLES MA- THEWS, as a butterfly lordling, in a continued flutter of gayety, incapable of any thing but pleasure, and making love to every woman he meets out of the exuberance of self-satisfaction, is quite in his element, and hovers about the handsome Dowager like a bee round a flower. Bars- DAL, as a sheepish swain, in yellow satin inexpressibles, looked more of the bumble-bee or the drone ; and, to continue the insect simile, Dom, as an impulsive lover, darted to and fro like a dragon-fly. Miss CHARLES and Miss CONNOR are the nieces. The costumes are of the last age, and both splendid and in good keeping : the spirit that animated' the Olympic in its palmy days presided over the scene. The audience evidently appreciated the revival of a species of entertainment that united the suffrages of all playgoers.
Madame CELESTE, having returned from America, made her reap- pearance at the Haymarket on Wednesday, in her favourite part of Suzanne : she was cordially welcomed by a full house.
We took refuge from the fog the other night at Monsieur Jumasses Concerts at the English Operahouse ; and the throng in the promenade looked as if they too had been driven in by stress of weather, so wrapped up were they in coats and cares. We could not help fancying what a strange spectacle the crowd of grave and gaping auditors must have appeared to the mercurial Frenchman, whose vallanced face and ringlets formed the central attraction of the parterre of instrumentalists, round which a dingy mass of greatcoats blotted with hats, and a slight sprinkling of straw bonnets, circled in sluggish eddies, as the prome- naders elbowed their way from one place to another, seeking rest and finding none—for seats were few in the market, and leaning-posts were at a premium. M. JIJLLIEN is an indefatigable conductor ; and his ex- ertions are incessant, whether, wielding the baton, he regulates the movements of his chosen band—subduing the sullen lowing of tbe ophi- cleide, quelling the furious blasts of the trombones, and deprecating the loudness of the drum—or, fiddle in hand, he leads on the stringed in- struments to the attack in double quick time. His quadrilles set all heads nodding like Chinese images, and many little, feet beating a re- sponse to the dancing measure ; the " Scotch Quadrilles " being so pro- vocative of motion that we almost expected to see a set formed extem- pore and spontaneously danced. A young violinist, M. DEIA)FFRE, drew forth more applause by a display of dexterity than the overtures of BEETHOVEN and WEBER elicited ; though the kind of excellence he exhibited is no longer rare. The harmonious din of the orchestra is soon to be succeeded by the discordant roar of wild beasts, and the English Operahouse converted into a menagerie for Mr. VAN AMBURGH'S exhibition. The conqueror of lions, tamer of tigers, and favoured of Royalty, made his triumphal entry into the Metropolis yesterday, driving eight horses in hand, and followed by a train of captive animals who own his sway. This beats big letters hollow.
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