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one of the best essays extant on the subject of health,-full of sound sense, professional learning, and wise observations,has been retranslated, and published under the editorship of Erasmus Wilson. Hufeland was not only an excellent physician, but a discerning and upright man, understanding completely what he undertook to write about, and writing about it with simplicity, directness and taste.

- Christ in History, by ROBERT TURNBULL, D.D. Attempts to grasp and reduce to a divine scheme the wild outlines of history are characteristic, and will be yet more so, of modern philosophical culture. A theory of the whole story of man has become one of the most legitimate and fascinating aims of thought, and promises (indeed has in part realized) rich results. Dr. Turnbull's book contains a Christological Theory of History. He finds Christ as an actual and also formal want in the religious thinking and aspiration of the old world, he finds this want partially realized, and the gift broadly promised in and through a selected people, all the first stage of man's experience, thus pointing to, and preparing for an incarnation of the Divine. He finds this accomplished in the advent-all need, in the grandest manner, met in Christ. From that point, to which all history had converged, it now radiates, and the whole future will be but the chronicle of the gradual passage, through all obstacles, of the spirit of the revealed God into the life of the nations. This scheme is, of course, not at all new, nor is it original in the manner of its treatment-the somewhat affected titles and some of the minor forms of thought excepted. There is, too, a want of singleness of purpose--the author sometimes using his subject as a thread to string his thoughts and reading upon as to the history and proofs of religion in general. Still the book exhibits much learning in a very interesting direction,-and has much respectable thinking. Indeed, the author seems to have aimed at a most liberal selfculture, and has been willing to let in on his scheme all the latest-and highest thought.

latives, and hang it round the managerial neck upon this occasion. He has deserved well of the public by his energy, and care, and unremitting diligence in getting up the Prophet. It was the last great musical triumph in Europe; very much had been said about it: the fame of Viardot Garcia, as Fides, had crossed the sea; it was known that Roger, promoted from the Opera Comique, had succeeded at the Grand opera, upon the production of Le Prophète; that in fact he had "created" the part of Jean, the Prophet King.' Catharine Hayes had sung Ah! mon fils; and Jullien had played the Coronation March; in fact, we could all talk more or less knowingly about Meyerbeer's last great opera. Nay, some of us had even been in Paris upon the night it was brought out; had seen the excitement of that gay metropolis, the mounted guards, the hurrying crowds; and sitting comfortably after dinner, at the great corner window of the Maison Dorée, had seen the long line of equipages rolling to the temple of the Muses.

It is painfully clear that we are not saying how Le Prophète was done at Niblo's. But we have struck the key-note of an unavoidable criticism by what we have already said. This opera was the work of many years of a nervous care, and a practical sagacity, unequalled in a composer. Meyerbeer's fame in Paris, the scene of the triumph of Robert Le Diable, and Les Huguenots, was colossal. He had not produced any thing for many years, except an operetta sung by Jenny Lind, in Vienna. As time passed, the prestige of his two great operas constantly increased. The public, which is a chameleon in Paris, by the rapidity of its changes, could not help adding their imaginations to their memorials and to their hopes. The success of Robert was conceded to be the greatest upon record. It was sustained by Les Huguenots; and unavoidably, a standard of expectation almost beyond possible fulfilment existed in the Parisian mind. For many months, the signs of preparation were discernible. Then came the revolution, and threatened to send the Muses after the Bourbons. But no sooner was peace partly assured, than the attention to the opera recommenced; and finally it was produced with all the force of the Grand opera, artistic, scenic, instrumental, Terpsichorean, and whatsoever other force there may be in a theatre.

Le Prophète was composed with the magnificent resources of the Grand opera constantly in view: great importance, and

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essential importance, was attached to them. For, whether consciously or not, Meyerbeer's operas do not depend solely upon the musical interest and development, but upon many accessories of the libretto, so to speak; upon the opportunity of great scenic display; in fact, upon an appeal to the eye as well as to the ear, in a degree not consonant with our idea of pure opera.

The first and permanent impression of Le Prophète, at Niblo's, was therefore inadequacy. It was evident that unusual

care had been taken, that money had been spent, scenes painted, and choruses drilled. We have seen enough of Mr. Maretzek's hard working in the preparation of an opera to infer how much he must have suffered and exercised during the rehearsals of this work. We felt this all the time. We saw that he was doing his best; that the company, excepting Steffanone, were never in better tune; and that if success could be achieved by deserving it, the opera would remunerate the Manager both with honor and profit. But success cannot be achieved upon that condition. The performance was only a good attempt. It was a faint reminiscence of the original thing in Paris. It is perfectly true that we had no right to expect a rival of the Grand opera at Niblo's; but it is also perfectly true that when you know the best, you cannot devote much enthusiasm to the pretty good. If it is praise to say that it was very good for New-York, or for Niblo's, or for the capital at command, then we say all that, for it is true. But with a stage not half large enough, with an orchestra ditto, and chorus ditto, with a ballet that is no ballet, and scenery which attempts all that it could not perform, with every thing, except the singing, taken with great reservation, how can there be much praise of that, which, to be perfect, requires stage, orchestra, chorus, ballet and scenery of the finest kind?

For instance, the fourth act is the coronation in the Cathedral of Munster. The coronation march peals through the opening of the act, while the procession enters and occupies the edifice. This effect must be complete or it is ludicrous. Nothing is so difficult as a decent procession or crowd upon the stage. Now at Niblo's the low columns suggest a vault, there is no sense of loftiness; and the space is entirely destroyed by the rising series of railings directly across the Cathedral, from column to column, so that there is no more of the plane of the stage exposed, and suitable for the proper action, than when the tent

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curtains are drawn in the previous act. We have all an idea of a cathedral, whether we have seen one or not, and part of that idea is the conviction that the whole floor of such a building is not occupied by transverse railings or partitions of some kind. And we know farther when processions enter such edifices they do not countermarch across what is intended to represent the great nave. They manage these things better in France." An immense stage-area; a high springing series of columns; a thronging procession enters (and entered when we saw it) at the front and moved back into the church; the whole resulting in an impression of a vast cathedral crowded with a glittering multitude,-these were peculiarities of this act there. What shall we say of our procession? When Shakespeare, says, "alarum, enter an army," the action and interest of the play depend very little upon the fact, and three men in buckram answer the purpose of suggestion. But Meyerbeer's alarum and army is a distinct part of the play. It is an essential effect; and is fairly to be judged as such. The same objection lies against this act, which is true of the whole;-it was inadequate. We do not use a harsher word, because the evidence of good intention was so plain. And yet to say that one of Meyerbeer's operas was inadequately done, is to go near condemning it.

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Or consider the skating ballet with the beautiful music; and the dancing in the last act. Or had we better not consider it but pass on?

It is pleasant to turn to the singing; Salvi was never so resolutely good. To witness his energy, his care, his conscience, tended much to weaken our remembrance of his infamous murder of Don Ottavio upon the same boards. He conceives his character admirably, and in his great scene, in the fourth act, where he makes his mother disown him, he was at the height of his power. So when he sings his romanza in the second act there was a purity, pathos, and breadth in his voice and style which justly charmed the audience, and drew down as hearty applause as we have ever heard in the theatre. The exquisite morceau of the last act, the half-frenzied lyric, was rendered with a grace and melody that assured us of the artist's great power. There is a strain in

the air which recalls the conclusion of La ci darem from Don Giovanni. Altogether, we must consider Salvi's Jean as his finest part. Our only quarrel would be with his costume, which is unnecessarily unhandsome when he is the inn-keeper.

The three Anabaptists, Marini, Rosi, and Vietti, were admirable. Their tall spectral figures gliding in, always at the right moment, black messengers of fate, and prophetic of tragedy, are, of themselves, one of those sombre effects which please the melodramatic imagination of the composer. It was well suggested in the Tribune, that there is something akin to the three witches in Macbeth, in these grim apparitions. They moved and sang with great unanimity; and although there is no very taking music attached to their rôle, they are closely listened to and applauded.

Of the ladies we would rather not speak, and have, therefore, delayed so long, putting them in the rear of the gentlemen. The truth is, that the musical rôle of Fides is, in much of the opera, in the very worst part of Steffanone's voice. It sounds husky and uncertain, and what is much worse, it was shockingly out of tune, whenever we heard her in the opera. Her acting in the great scene is very fine, although the situation is much too prolonged. Bertucca as Bertha was only tolerable. This lady is rarely forgetful enough of herself, and yet we will ascribe to a natural nervousness and sympathy with her husband's effort, the evident uncertainty and inadequacy of her performance. Yet she, too, did well in the duet. The choruses were very good and execrably bad. At one point we feared the representation must pause, they were so entirely astray. Each one was singing his own tune in his own key. But the opening chorus was done firmly and with vigor.

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experience after the curtain falls upon the scenery and the dancing girls,-Where?

The first Philharmonic Concert of the season took place in the Metropolitan Hall. It was, as usual, a great success. This orchestra is now so well trained to the performance of the best music, that we could wish their concerts were more frequent and at lower rates. Jullien has demonstrated that the "many headed" have ears for Mendelssohn and Beethoven, as well as for the Prima Donna and Yankee Doodle. The Philharmonic in its high prices rather perpetuates the tradition of the London Philharmonic, a high rate and an exclusive audience. Those are the Scylla and Charybdis upon which most of our operatic enterprises have failed.

In the foreign musical gossip, there is really nothing to notice but the new French singer, Mademoiselle Cabal, of whom Hector Berlioz speaks well. It is certainly time for a new singer; but every fresh one is hailed in Paris with such stunning thunders of applause, that, at this distance, we cannot hear the voice itself, and when the applause has subsided, so, also, we sadly discover, has the voice. The London papers wonder, with a sneer, that the advertisement for the leasing of the New-York Academy of Music, should appear there, and inquire sullenly, "Are there no Yankees who can manage it?" Soft, gentle sirs! There are plenty; but it does not seem unwise when you have built a house for a particular purpose, to search the world for the very best person to take care of it. It is our way. If a Frenchman, or German, or Italian, or even an Englishman, can do better by the interests of music in this country, than a native, let him manage the new operahouse. If you prefer to close your operahouses under the auspices of bold Britons, rather than keep them going under the direction of foreigners, do it by all means. But why, as usual, expect us to suffer because you are sore?

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The national painting of Mr. Powell is from a subject selected by a committee of Congress. Drawings of various subjects were submitted, and the committee composed of Mr. Pierce of Maryland, John Y. Mason and Jefferson Davis of the Senate, and John Quincy Adams, Mr. Preston, of Virginia, and T. Butler King on the part of the House of Representatives: they unanimously agreed that the subject should be the Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto. The commission was given to Mr. Powell by an almost unanimous vote of Congress-unanimously, by the Senate, and 198 out of 212 votes in the House. He is not a western man, although considered & western artist from the fact that he received his first encouragement from the citizens of Cincinnati. He was

born in New-York, and has resided here since 1840. He studied with Henry Inman, and was his favorite pupil. In 1842 he went to Italy, and studied under the best masters for three years, when he returned to New-York, bringing with him several composition pictures, among which were "Salvator Rosa among the Brigands." and "Columbus before the Council at Salamanca "-the latter painting was very much admired, so much so, that among others, Washington Irving having examined it carefully, wrote a letter to the library committee of Congress, greatly praising its artistic merits. The exhibition of this picture in the library of the Capitol, during the session of Congress, for 1848-49, secured the commission for the present painting.

The sum of forty thousand dollars was originally appropriated by Congress for the purpose of procur ing four historical pictures painted by native American artists, to fill the four vacant panels of the Rotundo of the Capitol. Chapman, Weir, Vanderlyn, and Inman received these commissions-Mr. Inman died before completing his subject on canvas: ho had received the sum of six thousand dollars. In the contract with Mr. Powell, the sum of six thousand dollars was awarded in addition to the unexpended portion of the former appropriation of ten thousand dollars. The artist has already received eight thousand dollars, which sum he has expended in producing the work just finished. The residue is to be paid on the delivering of the work. Mr. Huntington, who was a pupil of Professor Morse, offered to completo the picture of Boone's Emigration to Kentucky, begun by Inman, for the sum of four thousand dollars.

In regard to the historical accuracy of the painting by Mr. Powell we give quotations from Bancroft's United States, Irving's Conquest of Florida, Tho Portuguese Relation (published in 1557), The Account of Luis Hernandez de Biedma who was present in the expedition of De Soto (published in 1544), and The History by Garcillasso de La Vega.

When De Soto returned to Spain from Peru, and the design was published that an expedition of exploration to Florida was definitely fixed upon, then the most extravagant ideas were entertained. To use the language of Mr. Bancroft: "No sooner was the design of a new expedition published in Spain than the wildest hopes were indulged.. How brilliant must be the prospect since even the conqueror of Peru was willing to hazard his fortunes and the greatness of his name! Adventurers assembled as volunteers, many of them of noble birth and good estates. Houses and vineyards, lands for tillage and rows of olive trees in the Ajarraffe of Seville, wero sold, as in the times of the Crusades, to obtain the means of military equipment. Tho port of San Lucar of Barameda was crowded with those who hastened to solicit permission to share in the enterprise. Even soldiers of Portugal desired to be enrolled for the service. A muster was held. The Portuguese ap

peared in the glittering array of burnished armor, and the Castilians brilliant with hopes were very gallant with silk upon silk."

Mr. Irving, in his Conquest of Florida, on the same subject, remarks, "As De Soto was one day in the gallery of his house at Seville, he saw a brilliant band of cavaliers enter the court-yard, and hastened to the foot of the stairs to receive them. They were Portuguese hidalgos led by Andres des Vasconcelos. Several of them had served in the wars with the Moors on the African frontiers, and they had come to volunteer their services. De Soto joyfully accepted their offer. A muster being called of all the troops, the Spaniards appeared in splendid and showy attire, with silken doublets and cassocks pinked and embroidered. The Portuguese, on the contrary, came in soldier-like style in complete armor. They arrived on the coast of Florida and disembarked in the year 1539. After many months of wandering they reached the Mavilla-now Mobile. Here they had a disastrous battle with the Indians, and a fire that occurred at the time, destroyed "the curious collections De Soto had made." In March, 1541, just previous to the discovery of the Mississippi, De Soto demanded of the chief of the Chickasaws two hundred Indians to carry the baggage of the company, at the same time taking possession of their village. The demand was refused, and in the darkness of a stormy night they were assaulted by the infuriated savages who set fire to the houses. The Spaniards were taken completely by surprise. De Soto, "who always slept in his doublet and hose that he might be prepared for such emergencies, clasped on his casque, drew on a surcoat of quilted cotton three fingers in thickness, the best defence against the arrows of the savages, and seizing buckler and lance, mounted his horse and charged fearlessly into the midst of the enemy." It seems to be a misapprehension that De Soto and his followers lost all their clothing by this fire, from the quotations we have given. Some of them, however, did lose their wearing apparel, lives were lost, and horses and swine consumed. The skins of wild animals were afterwards used by those who had lost their clothing; and Irving, in his "Conquest of Florida," thus speaks of the manner in which the "wild ivy" happened to be used. "Besides being unceasingly harassed by the enemy, they suffered bitterly from the cold, which was rigorous in the extreme, especially to men who had to pass every night under arms with scarce any clothing. In this extremity, however, they were relieved by the ingenuity of one of the common soldiers; he succeeded in making a matting, four fingers in thickness, of a long kind of grass or dried ivy, one half of which served as mattress and the other half was turned over as a blanket."

In about ten days after the fire at Chicaza, De Soto discovered the Mississippi River.. Here again we quote the language of Mr. Bancroft. "De Soto was the first of Europeans to behold the magnificent river which rolled its immense mass of waters through the splendid vegetation of a wide alluvial soil. The lapse of three centuries has not changed the character of the stream; it was then described as more than a mile broad, flowing with a strong current, and by the weight of its waters forcing a channel of great depth. The water was always muddy, trees and timber were continually floating down the stream. The arrival of the strangers awakened curiosity and fear. A multitude of people from the western bank of the river, painted and gayly decorated with great plumes of white feathers, the warriors standing in rows with bows and arrows in their hands, the chieftains sitting under awnings as magnificent as their artless manu

facturers could weave, came rowing down the stream in a fleet of two hundred canoes, seeming to the admiring Spaniards 'like a fair army of galleys:' they brought gifts of fish and loaves made of the persimmon, At first they showed a desire to offer resistance, but soon becoming conscious of their relative weakness, they ceased to defy an enemy they could not overcome, and suffered injury without attempting open retaliation."

From this quotation it is not to be inferred that De Soto and his followers were in a forlorn condition. They still retained sufficient martial array to intimidate the hostile savages by whom they were surrounded. They built boats large enough to convey seventy or eighty men and five horses in each, across the river, which was described by Biedma as being a league in width. Mr. Irving thus speaks of a religious ceremony on the banks of the Mississippi. It seems that the cacique of the Indian tribe, accompanied by his principal subjects, came into the presence of De Soto, and said, "As you are superior to us in prowess, and surpass us in arms, we likewise bebelieve that your God is better than our god. These you behold before you are the chief warriors of my dominions. We supplicate you to pray to your God to send us rain, for our fields are parched for the want of water." De Soto replied, that he would pray to the God of the universe to grant their request. Immediately he ordered his chief carpenter, named Francisco, to fell a pine tree, and construct it into a cross. "They formed of it a perfect cross, and erected it on a high hill on the bank of the river. The cacique walked beside the governor, and many of the warriors mingled with the Spaniards. Before them went a choir of priests and friars chanting the litany, whilst the soldiers responded." They formed a procession, and as they passed they knelt down before it whilst prayers were being offered up. It was estimated that from fifteen to twenty thousand Indians witnessed the scene. The equipment of the Spaniards must have been almost perfect to inspire awe to so formidable an army of hostile savages.

Mr. Powell in his De Soto, has represented the Indians offering their gifts of corn, fish, and game, while in the right-hand corner of the painting is the erection of the cross as an incident connected with the event. De Soto himself rides a magnificent horse -a portrait of the battle horse of Abd-el-Kader. The artist was permitted access to the imperial stables at St. Cloud, by Louis Napoleon, and painted it from life. All the principal figures in the picture were painted from living models, and the costumes, arms, &c., were copied from those used in the middle of the sixteenth century by the Spaniards.

In regard to the fine horses, represented in the picture, the artist was compelled to use the best models by the historical account of them given in "Irving's Conquest of Florida," as will be seen by the following incident. On the arrival of De Soto at Cuba, on his way to Florida, "he found a beautiful horse, richly caparisoned, waiting for him, and likewise a mule for Donna Isabella, which were furnished by a gentleman of the town" (Santiago). He was escorted to his lodgings by the burghers on horses and on foot, and all his officers and men were hospitably entertained by them, some being quartered in the town and others in their country houses. For several days it was one continued festival; at night there were balls and masquerades, by day tilting matches, bull fights, contests of skill in horsemanship, running at the ring, and other amusements of a chivalrous nature. The young cavaliers of the camp vied with each other and with the youth of the city in the gallantry of their equipments, the elegance and novelty of their devices,

and the wit and ingenuity of their mottoes. What gave peculiar splendor to theso entertainments was the beauty, spirit, and excellence of the horses. The great deinand for these noble animals for the conquests of Mexico and Peru, and other parts, rendered the raising of them one of the most profitablo sources of speculation in the islands. The island of Cuba was naturally favorable to them, and as great care and attention had been given to multiply and improve the breed, there was at this time an uncommon number, and of remarkably fine qualities. Many individuals had from twenty to thirty horses in their stables, and some of the rich had twice that number on their estates.

The cavaliers of the army had spared no expense in furnishing themselves with the most superb and generous steeds for their intended expedition. Many individuals possessed three or four, caparisoned in the most costly manner, and the governor aided liberally with his purse such as had not the means of equipping themselves in suitable style. Thus freshly and magnificently mounted and arrayed in their new dresses and burnished armor, the cavaliers made a brilliant display, and carried off many of the prizes of gold and silver, and silks. and brocades, which were adjudged to those who distinguished themselves in these chivalrons games.

In these, no one carried off the prize more frequently than Nuño de Tobar, the lieutenant-general. He was, as has been said, a cavalier of high and generous qualities, who had gained laurels in, the conquest of Peru. He appeared on these occasions in sumptnous array, mounted on a superb horse of silver gray, dappled, and was always noted for the gracefulness of his carriage, his noble demeanor, and his admirable address in his management of lance and steed.

At this time there was on a visit to the governor in the city of Santiago a cavalier upwards of fifty years of age, named Vasco Porcalo de Vegueora. He was of a noble family and of a brave and galliard disposition, having seen much hard fighting in the Indies, in Spain and Italy, and distinguished himself on various occasions. He now resided in the town of Trinidad in Cuba, living opulently and luxuriously upon the wealth he had gained in the wars, honored for his exploits, loved for his social qualities, and extolled for his hearty hospitality.

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