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TEE popularity of Mr. Balfe, as the first of our English composers, great and increasing as it has been for the last quarter of a century, never, perhaps, received so signal a proof as on Saturday night, when Covent Garden Theatre, which neither the melodies of Larline nor the spectacle of Robin Hood could more than half fill, was crowded from orchestra to gallery by an audience attracted by the announce- ment that on that night would be produced The Puritan's Daughter, a new grand romantic opera, by Messrs. W. Balfe and J. V. Bridgeman. Nor had they reckoned without their hosts ; Mr. Balfe has surpassed himself, and Mr. Bridgeman has satisfactorily demonstrated that the libretto of an English opera is not necessarily always silly and inane, but may contain a powerful drama, expressed in pointed dialogue and poetry of considerable merit. Colonel Wolf (Mr. H. Cord), formerly of Cromwell's Ironsides, with his daughter Mary (Miss Louisa Pyne), are the tenants of Middleton Hall, the property of a Cavalier, who in youth had been Wolfs companion and friend, and after the Restoration had allowed him to reside there unmolested. Clifford (Mr. Santley), the Cavalier's secretary, is deeply attached to Mary Wolf, but her hand is also sought by Seymour (Mr. St. Albyn), a buccaneer. Wolf, with numerous other Puritans, has organized a conspiracy with the object of carry- ing off the King, Seymour agreeing to lend his vessel for the purpose, in return for the. hand of Mary Wolf, who, he is aware, returns Cliford's love. A meeting of the conspirators is to be held in a rained chapel, and Seymour, telling his lieutenant of " the inesti- mable treasure" he hopes then to obtain, is partially overheard by Ralph, a servant, whose gaucherie and inability to express his feelings coherently to Jessie (Miss Susan Pyne), the object of his affec- tions, give scope to Mr. G. Honey for the display of his genuine comic powers. The words are understood by Ralph to refer to hidden gold, and while searching the chapel, he has barely time to conceal himself when the Puritan conspirators enter, and bind themselves by a solemn oath to the destruction of the tyrant. By accident, Mary Woll'is also a witness of the oath. At its conclusion she is discovered, and the Puritans threaten that Clifford shall die unless she consents to wed Seymour, and vows never to reveal what she has heard. To save his life she at length consents, her father and the other conspirators re- maining inexorable. The whole scene is alike remarkable for powerful dramatic interest and beautiful scenic effect, while the chorus, " By earth and by air," in which the Puritans register their vow, is one of Mr. Balfe's happiest inspirations. In the next scene, Mary receives a letter from Gifford, containing a flower, and in the charming cavatina, "Pretty, lowly, modest flower," Miss Louisa Pyne obtains an enthu- siastic encore every evening. In a subsequent interview between the two, when Mary tells Clifford he must cease to love her, but is re- strained by her vow from explaining to him why, Mr. Balfe has intro- duced, in "Bliss for ever past," one of those lovely ballad-melodies for which he is unsurpassed, and which will ere long be heard in every drawing-room, and too surely, we fear we must add, on every grind- organ. In the second act, King Charles II. (Mr. Patey) and the Earl of Rochester (Mr. Harrison), while travelling incognito, take shelter from a storm at Middleton Hall, and ask and obtain a welcome from Gifford in the spirited trio, "By the tempest overtaken." In the course of the evening, Rochester, who has seen Mazy, makes a bet with the King that the latter does not persuade her to leave the house with him, without disclosing his rank. Shortly 'afterwards rot/ returns, and immediately recognizes the King, and thanks Providence for having thus thrown him into his hands, in a cabaletta, "Can it be? do I dream ?" and on the en- trance of .Fleetwood (Mr. C. Lyall), another Puritan, the two join in a psalm, the only characteristically Puritan composition in the opera. While they are concerting plans for his destruction, the Xing is informed by Mary of certain wrongs done by him to the Clifford family; he discloses his rank, and promises repara- tion. She, without breaking her vow, urges him to fly, but find- ing every outlet guarded, conceals him in a secret passage. Rochester, in the mean time, has been drinking considerably more punch than he can carry, and his drunken pursuit of Jessie, free and easy insolence to the King, and obstinate refusal to leave the house without the punch-bowl, are all admirably represented by Mr. Harrison, whose marked success in an entirely fresh line is one of the great hits of the opera, while the bacchanalian song in praise of punch allotted to him is one of the best and most original things of the kind ever composed. While concealed in the secret passage, the King overhears Clifford accusing Mary of an intrigue with himself, notwithstanding her assurance of continued love, in a ballad—" The Paradise of Love"—which is likely to become an equal favourite with "Bliss for ever past." He comes forward and announces himself ; but cannot persuade Clifford of Mary's inno- cence, till Ralph, who has just accidentally discovered the rank of the King, rushes in and acquaints him with the plot he has over- heard in the chapel. All Clifford's suspicions vanish when he finds that Mary's having also -overheard the • oath was the cause of her mysterious conduct, and he saves the King by changing attire with him. As soon as the King has escaped, the Puritans surround the house, and, enraged at the escape of their intended victim, sentence Rochester, Clifford, and Mary to death. The latter is saved at the last moment by Ralph, who, overcoming his cowardice, boldly confesses that he had witnessed the scene in the chapel and warned the King. He is, of course, sentenced to death, ei but 'list as Seymour is about to gratify his revenge by first shooting Cli ord, he himself falls dead from a musket-shot, and a party of so diers, headed by King Charles, break in, and the Puritans are overpowered. Wolf alone is spared at Mary's intercession, and the opera is brought to a conclusion with the rondo finale for Mary, " With emotion past all telling," in which Miss Louisa Pyne performs whatmight really be called "miracles of vocalization." That the Puri- tas's Dauihler is a great success, may be gathered from what we have already said. Miss Louisa Pyne both sang and acted her very best, and maintained her position as incomparably the first Englishsoprano, and her sister's representation of the village girl, faithful to her lover, but at the same time not indisposed to a flirtation with the gay Cavalier, was admirable. Of Mr. Harrison's success as the careless, dissipated, wittyRochealer, we have spoken, and Mr. Sautley's splendid voice and almost faultless style appear to greater advantage in each fresh character he assumes. Mr. Patey as the Merry Monarch, and Mr. Corri as the stern Puritan, were also perfect in their respective parts. At the conclusion of the first night's performance, Messrs. Balfe and Bridgeman had both to bow their acknowledgments to a de- lighted audience, and the call for the former has, we believe, been
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