296 THE MUSICIAN ABOUT TOWN. 
«* Maid of Artois,” “ Gustavus,” “ Fra Diavolo,” but with no effect 
upon the town. Braham, too, has made his appearance at Drury 
Lane, and, for his reputation, injudiciously. He never filled his 
own theatre, the St. James’s ; and it is not easy to conceive what 
there can be in the atmosphere of a house more than twice its size 
to produce any change in public curiosity. ‘There has been one new 
opera brought forward here, entitled, “‘ Francis the First,” the 
music by Mr. E. Loder. As regards the piece itself, it may be said 
to be a revival of the old “ Mysteries ;” for Francis the First must 
have been a mystery to every body: to the writer, for he must have 
performed his task ‘‘ by faith, and not by sight ;” to Mr. E. Loder, 
who, it is said, composed the music without being admitted to the 
arcana of the plot and dialogue; and to the audience it proved an 
undoubted mystery, though not a reverend one. The consequence 
was, notwithstanding the turbulent and interested zeal of some pre- 
sent, the audience came away hardened heretics. 
At Covent Garden but one original musical drama has hitherto 
been produced this season ; if that can be called original in England 
when both the plot and music are of French extraction. It was 
entitled “ Barbara :” the music, which is pretty, is by the younger 
Boieldieu. Contrary, however, to the expectation of the manage- 
ment, as well as the performers, the existence of Barbara extended 
to only a few nights. It should seem that, as regards the produc- 
tions at this theatre, the public have demanded too high a standard 
of excellence ; for we have witnessed the quick dismissal of pieces 
this season, which would assuredly, in any other metropolitan the- 
atre, have reached the average longevity of all such as pretend only 
to while away an odd three quarters of an hour. If, however, Mr. 
Macready be subjected to these little disappointments (the trouble- 
some accompaniments of possessing too good a character), he is a fair 
example of what the public wil do for a man of real merit and 
energy, who also is determined to gain their favour ; and he is an 
example, too, of the small portion of influence the newspaper press 
has with that public, when they are resolved to be pleased. The 
unjust treatment he received from the daily press last season was 
the constant remark of all who had witnessed his exertions and suc- 
cess in reproducing the finest works of the finest of all dramatists. 
The revivals, for instance, of the Coriolanus and the Macbeth, which 
for splendour and propriety were never even equalled, and the per- 
formances of which were repeated, perhaps, thirty times in the 
course of the season, were coldly recorded by some of the daily 
papers in a paragraph of about ten or twelve lines; whereas some 
