MELODRAMA ON A GRAND SCALE.
Cznsoasons people have insinuated from the first, that the French conquests in North Africa have never been meant for any thiug else than a spectacle to divert the attention of the nation from what is ring on at home. There has certainly been something theatrical in the emphasis with which all the great littlenesses of the African campaigns have in turn been announced at Paris ; but the boldest effect of scenic display has been reserved for the close of the year 1843—for a sort of fête de Noel.
On the 28th of December, the Governor-General, with a nu- merous train of civil and military functionaries, amateur members of the Chambers on a holyday tour, &c. &c., solemnly inaugurated a village in Algeria, which has, after great exertions, been rendered habitable for fifty-four families of Swiss colonists "and their beasts." A banquet was given on the occasion, at which Madame la Ma- reehal BunnAnD did the honours ; and then-
" During the repast, one of the convicts, employed in the construction of the village, sang, with a voice truly charming, a song composed by one of his com- panions in misfortune. This song is not a model of style; but the ideas i expresses are unaffected, and perfectly conformable to the sentiment which dic- tated it. Sung with the faultering voice of one of those unfortunates whose woes and hopes it portrays, accompanied by a chorus of his companions who sang the refrains, these verses had an irresistible power of awakening emotion. While listening, all eyes were moistened with tears. There was rera .poetry, grief, and pity. Monsieur le Marechal participated in the general sentiment ; and when the song ceased, ' Yes,' he exclaimed, I will solicit in your be- half the Royal clemency, which is never appealed to in vain ; I will make every effort to obtain the remission of your punishment, which your labours have deserved.'" Hitherto we have fancied Drury Lane and Covent Garden stages sufficiently large for doing justice to the tableaux of governors and generals, with attendant guards, which are the most attractive features of our " Galley-Slaves," "Forest of Bondy," and other melodramas of the Ordinary of Newgate school ; but it must be confessed the performance at the Marabout d'Aumale entirely eclipses their most successful productions. It combines the do- mestic and judicial pathos of the criminal drama' which originated in the school of DIDEROT, with the charms of the ancient Greek tragedy, which was performed in the radiant day of that delicious climate, the proscenium being so constructed that the beau- tiful surrounding scenery formed the background of the scenic. show ; and to both these sources of attraction is superadded a charm of reality common to it with the gladiatorial exhibitions of the Romans. The piece is performed by real live generals war- riors, and convicts. The soldiers have been bronzed in real warfare; the colonists are surrounded by real swarms of tigers and Arab ban- ditti; the convicts have committed real crimes. All that is enno- bling in the pickpocket school of romance, and all that was hu- mane in the exhibitions of gladiators, are combined to stimulate the imaginations of the good people of Paris. The French Govern- ment may not have added much to the national resources, or even to. the national military glory, by its operations in Algeria ; but it has stuck a new leaf of laurel in the wreath of the national drama ; and is not that a sufficient return for the treasure and lives that have been expended ?
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