Christmas at Old Court. By the author of "Richelieu in
Love." (Bentley.)—This work seems to have been composed in the hope that certain dramatic and poetic compositions might be fortunate enough, when imbedded as plums in the middle of a narrative, to meet with readers which they had not found in a separate form. There is a poetic dedication to Mr. Webster of the Adelphi, and a terribly long play in blank verse, entitled a "Shakespeare Forgery," a farce called "Mistaken Identity," and an Epithalamium on the marriage of the Prince of Wales, which was actually recited at the Adelphi by Miss Avonia Jones. These are brought in just as the dance between the Infant Phenomenon and Mr. Folair were introduced into Nicholas Nickleby's play. The owner of Old Court is a student of dramatic literature, so is one of his guests; that introduces the tragedy. Private theatricals are proposed, and nothing can be more apropos than the comedy. And when all other amusements aro exhausted, the company—they must have boon used up, indeed—insist on hearing once more the epithalamium which gave them so much pleasure, &c. "Christmas at Old Court" is, however, quite readable, if these three compositions are sedulously skipped.
Previous page
